Leadership, Planning and Evaluation

LEADERSHIP, PLANNING, AND EVALUATION: PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT The mission of the Wilmot Cancer Institute (Wilmot) is to provide the highest quality treatment and care, through expert and innovative medicine, science, and education, for any patient burdened by any cancer within the region and beyond. Leadership: The senior leadership of the Wilmot Cancer Institute is comprised of Director Jonathan W. Friedberg, MD, MMSc (CM); Deputy Director Hartmut Land, PhD (GEM); and seven associate directors (ADs) with specific responsibilities for basic and translational research; population science; clinical research; community outreach and engagement; mentoring and career development; and administration. Friedberg, Land and the ADs serve as Wilmot’s Executive Committee (EC). Wilmot’s organizational structure encourages and facilitates robust collaboration among its leaders. Regular EC meetings and rich interconnections among committees similarly encourage collaboration and facilitate communication among all Wilmot leaders, including research program leaders, shared resource directors, and assistant directors. Governance: The EC is Wilmot’s primary strategic advisory committee, serving several functions: (1) annually providing advice and recommendations to the director on issues of strategic importance to Wilmot; (2) facilitating and promoting strategic communication across Wilmot; and (3) ensuring cancer focus with respect to membership criteria, funding, and policies. The director also benefits from the advice of three strategic advisory boards: the Community Cancer Action Council (provides advice on catchment area needs and priorities), the Internal Advisory Board (integrates Wilmot with other specialized research institutes at the university), and the External Advisory Board (assesses performance, recommends improvements). Specific members of the EC serve as chairs for Wilmot advisory committees, thereby ensuring effective oversight of targeted critical functions, bidirectional communication, and cohesive leadership across Wilmot. Friedberg holds ultimate decision-making responsibility for all matters. Planning: Through a highly collaborative process that engaged Wilmot leadership, members, and staff representing Wilmot’s research, education, community service, and clinical missions, Wilmot developed a five-year strategic plan in 2020 and updated it in 2023. The plan sets the stage for continued and accelerated growth in the research enterprise. The intent of the plan is to improve the health of the community through Wilmot’s world-class cancer research enterprise; its clinical expertise; its ability to innovate; and its collaborative and bold advancements to prevent, detect, treat, control, and defeat cancer. Evaluation: Wilmot’s strategic plan defines explicit “wins” (targeted metrics of success); Wilmot administration monitors progress toward those targets. When necessary, governing committees elevate issues to the EC for detailed discussion. The External Advisory Board and Internal Advisory Board provide an in-depth and comprehensive assessment of Wilmot’s structure, operations, and outcomes at least once per year. Project Number: 1P30CA272302-01A1 | Fiscal Year: 2025 | NIH Institute/Center: National Cancer Institute (NCI) | Principal Investigator: JONATHAN FRIEDBERG | Institution: UNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER, ROCHESTER, NY | Award Amount: $319,829 | Activity Code: P30 | Study Section: Cancer Centers Study Section (A)[NCI-A] View on NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/1P30CA27230201A1