As we wind down my second year as Chair of the department, I would like to express how proud I am to work with each and every one of you. We had some very big events in 2024, and the Department of Medical Oncology has undergone tremendous changes and growth, which has re-invigorated the faculty, staff, and patients. On May 25th, 2023, the written portion of our NCI Grant was submitted, then on August 24th, 2023, we had our site visit. There were a lot of hours and effort put into our submission and on April 18th, 2024, it was announced that we had earned our NCI Comprehensive status. A great accomplishment and a tremendous Team effort. On top of all of this, we moved into our new clinical space at the Honickman Center on May 20, 2024. Again, another huge undertaking that this department did together.
We also had a few losses in 2024 to our Jefferson family with the passing of Dr. Edith Mitchell and Dr. Michael Mastrangelo. The loss of our colleagues will be felt for many years to come.
Continuing to work closely with Andrew Chapman, DO the Director of Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center (SKCC) and Enterprise Vice President of Cancer Research and Oncology Services, and other Cancer Service Line and Jefferson Enterprise leaders to achieve the SKCC strategic plan and grow the department. We continue to streamline the department's administrative structure, filled vacant administrative and Division\Advanced Care Hub leadership positions recruited new faculty into Medical Oncology throughout the Enterprise and redefined the department's mission and goals. To improve horizontal and vertical integration of Medical Oncology across the Enterprise, we developed the three-pillar Clinical, Research, and Education model, which supports an environment of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and emphasizes the importance of faculty development and belonging. A dedicated and talented administrative core, a dynamic, supportive oncology program, and a robust philanthropic and extramural funding base support these pillars.
We have had a remarkable year in the Department of Medical Oncology. There was continued growth in patient visits, increased number of chemotherapy infusions, set an all-time high of BMT\CAR-T procedures, awarded 8 million dollars in total costs from externally funded research, robust clinical trial accrual, continued training the next generation of physicians and recruited many diverse and talented oncologists and researchers to the department. Critical to the success of the Department of Medical Oncology, the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center, and Jefferson Enterprise is the continued growth of Medical Oncology at Jefferson Northeast, Jefferson New Jersey, Jefferson Abington Hospital and Asplundh Cancer Center, and Jefferson Einstein. We have seen the number of faculty, patients, education opportunities, community outreach, and research opportunities grow at each location.
This year-end report represents accomplishments and much more that we, as a department, have achieved over the past year. This could only be accomplished through the dedicated faculty and staff in the department and the support we have received from the College, Cancer Center, and Enterprise. Our momentum will continue in 2025, and we look forward to bringing Oncology care to a new level in the Honickman Center and other new facilities in the enterprise, continuing to grow the medical oncology faculty and staff to fill the clinical, research, and education mission and providing the cutting edge clinical care and research to patients we serve.
Thank you for the opportunity to lead the Department of Medical Oncology. I cannot wait to see what we can accomplish in 2025.
Sincerely,