Description

Ernest McCulloch discusses how the Ontario Cancer Institute, dedicated to the goal of reducing the burden of cancer, continuously strove for excellence and shows how both original and collaborative work were encouraged within a supportive environment. To achieve this goal the institute divided its operation into four strands: two of the strands were the research areas - the study of advanced radiation therapy and biology, which worked separatively but cooperatively; a third was patient care; and the fourth element was leadership, provided by the clinical chiefs, the heads of the research divisions, and the administration, in particular the institute's first administrator, John Law. Together these strands helped create a philosophy that made the Ontario Cancer Institute unique and provided the basis for its national and international success. Essential to these successes was a new graduate department, Medical Biophysics, based in the University of Toronto School of Graduate Studies. This department, which provided an innovative, research-based doctoral and masters programme, meant that the OCI could accurately be described as a centre for cancer treatment, research, and education.