Medical College of Wisconsin opens Center for Cancer Discovery, hopes for new cancer cure, treatment

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) — Wisconsin cancer researchers have a renewed sense of hope.

On Tuesday, health leaders at the Medical College of Wisconsin held a ribbon cutting for the new Center for Cancer Discovery.

Inside this massive new building are dozens of state-of-the-art labs, biotech incubators and testing areas, all with the hope to fight the war on cancer.

"All of us have been touched by cancer, all of us have loved ones we have lost to cancer too soon," said James Thomas, MD, PhD professor of medicine and biochemistry, Medical College of Wisconsin.

Dr. James Thomas says this new Center for Cancer Discovery has been 10 years in the making.

"People understand that for cancer, there's a very rapid turnaround. There's things that we work on in the lab today that could be in the clinic in a couple years and helping people a couple years after that, so we are driven by that, that urgency to develop new things," said Dr. Thomas.

He says that urgency to help, combined with this center, will be the key for new discoveries.

"We've made a lot of advances, but in this state, there's someone that dies from cancer every hour. That's just not okay, we need to do better," said Dr. Thomas.

Elizabeth Brenner is on the Board of Trustees at the Medical College of Wisconsin, but she's also a patient.

"I was diagnosed over 20 years ago," Brenner explained.

She says she's traveled across the country to receive the best treatment possible.

"It's scary. There aren't a lot of markers or guideposts for what to do or who to see," said Brenner.

However, for Brenner, this new facility brings her hope as she continues to fight her battle.

"I can say the best treatment and the most comprehensive treatment I've gotten is here, right in our backyard," said Brenner.

Previously, researchers across multiple cancer fields worked in five separate buildings on campus. Now they're under one roof.

"They're going to be bumping into each other, they're going to be collaborating with each other, giving ideas to each other," said Dr. Thomas.

Dr. Thomas says more than 30 new researchers have been brought in; many of them will go on to develop companies that will generate jobs and economic growth here in Milwaukee, but more importantly, they will make an impact on fighting this disease.

According to the building manager, research teams will start moving in Monday, Aug 11. They will be fully settled by early October.

To learn more about the center, click here.