Cancer Center announces name change

AUGUSTA, Ga. – The GRU Cancer Center will become the Georgia Cancer Center at Augusta University.

“This new name not only reflects our status as the state of Georgia’s official cancer center, but our commitment to research, treatment and outreach in the local community, the region and beyond,” said Dr. Samir N. Khleif, cancer center director. “We are proud to call Augusta home, and it remains the goal of our clinicians, scientists and staff to make the significant impacts on health outcomes that will make Augusta proud as well.”

The announcement follows the January release of the new Augusta University name and brand.  A new cancer center logo, based on university brand standards, has also been developed.

The Georgia Cancer Center includes an outpatient clinical building on one corner of Laney Walker and R.A. Dent boulevards, the research facility on the opposite corner and the radiation therapy clinic on St. Sebastian Way. In August, plans were announced to expand the cancer research facility by 72,000 square feet and to add an elevated connector across Laney Walker Boulevard, physically bridging the gap between discovery and patient care, a project that will continue the Georgia Cancer Center’s momentum toward National Cancer Institute designation.

Construction is expected to be completed in early 2018. Upon completion, the renovated research building will be named for M. Bert Storey, in recognition of the Augusta philanthropist.

An estimated 1.6 million new cancer cases will be diagnosed and about 590,000 cancer deaths will occur this year nationwide, according to the American Cancer Society.

The Georgia Cancer Center is a multidisciplinary academic cancer center whose mission is to reduce the burden of cancer in Georgia and across the globe through superior care, innovation and education.  Its patient-centered approach includes first-in-the-nation treatment protocols, an experimental therapeutics program and specialized clinics for state-of-the-art drug and immunotherapy clinical trials.

DOWNLOADS: Members of the media may download copies of the new Georgia Cancer Center logo at go.augusta.edu/gcclogos.