SCCL - CHUV

SWISS CANCER CENTER, LAUSANNE
Report 2013-2014

SWISS CANCER CENTER, LAUSANNE | 2013-2014
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SWISS CANCER CENTER, LAUSANNE | 2013-2014
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Message from the SCCL Leadership
Welcome to the Swiss Cancer Center Lausanne!
In spite of great advances in knowledge and in the practice of
cancer medicine, cancer remains a devastating problem. One
in two men and one in three women will be affected by
cancer in their lifetime, and for far too many we still have no
enduring therapies. The complexity of the cancer problems
requires innovative approaches, bold investments and
effective clinical translation.
The new Swiss Cancer Center Lausanne was created to
respond to the challenge of improving the treatment of
human cancer. We are bringing together fundamental,
translational, and clinical cancer researchers from the Swiss
Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL), the
Ludwig Center for Cancer Research of the University of
Lausanne, the ISREC Foundation, the University of Lausanne
(UNIL), the Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics (SIB), and the
University Hospitals of Canton Vaud (CHUV), along with
our Geneva partners, the University Hospital of Geneva
(HUG) and the University of Geneva (UNIGE), and other
Swiss institutions. Our agenda is to create a highly
integrated, multidisciplinary, and collaborative cancer
research community, aimed at solving urgent cancer
problems and ultimately developing exceptional care and
innovative solutions for our cancer patients.
We bring together highly talented clinicians and nurses,
clinical investigators, basic and translational biomedical
researchers, chemists, biomaterial engineers and cell
engineers, imaging experts, geneticists, mathematicians and
bioinformaticians to foster innovative cancer research, with
the intertwined goals to elucidate mechanisms of cancer and
to apply such knowledge to the development of
breakthrough therapies. We are building on decades of
investment in research and clinical infrastructure in the
region, to create one of the few integrated cancer centers in
continental Europe.
We aim at bringing scientific discoveries to the clinic in
record time, to improve detection, prevention and therapy of
Professor George
COUKOS, MD, PhD
CHUV/UNIL
Professor Douglas
HANAHAN, PhD
EPFL

SWISS CANCER CENTER, LAUSANNE | 2013-2014
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cancer. In other words, we seek to reduce the burden of
cancer, urgently, through team science.
We are a new organization, a work in progress, of
transformation and change, and much still needs to be done.
The Department of Oncology at the CHUV was launched on
January 1, 2013, while the SCCL was officially announced on
January 15, 2013. We are very proud of what has been
accomplished already. Of course, many of the elements of the
SCCL pre-existed its creation. For that, we are extremely
grateful to our founding institutions and our supporters for
the extraordinary investments they have made, and continue
to make, to support our mission and our vision.
This report, the first we produce since the SCCL’s inception,
summarizes our activities to date. It is by no means
exhaustive, but we believe that it provides a clear view of our
spirit, our direction, and most importantly of our potential.
We are excited to be part of this rare opportunity to build a
new comprehensive cancer center and are enthusiastic to be
engaged with such a diverse group of talented colleagues, in
an era where technology and knowledge are coming together
to advance progress in cancer medicine, presaging a future
where oncology miracles will no longer be such rarities.
Professor George Coukos Professor Douglas Hanahan
Director, SCCL Vice-Director, SCCL

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Table of Contents
Message from the SCCL Leadership………………………………………………………………………….3
1. Discover the SCCL .................................................................................................................................... 7
1.1. What is the SCCL? ............................................................................................................................. 7
1.2. Key Goals of the SCCL ..................................................................................................................... 8
1.3. The AGORA building – the Nucleus of the SCCL ....................................................................... 9
1.4. Founding Institutions – and Key Institutes and Centers ............................................................ 11
1.5. Governance of the SCCL ................................................................................................................ 19
1.6. Key Numbers 2013-2014 ................................................................................................................ 20
2. Highlights ................................................................................................................................................ 24
2.1. Key 2013-2014 Hires ....................................................................................................................... 24
2.2. Awards and Distinctions ............................................................................................................... 36
3. Signature Research Programs ............................................................................................................... 43
3.1. Immune Therapy ............................................................................................................................. 43
3.2. Molecular Oncology & Targeted Therapeutics ........................................................................... 52
3.3. Precision Radiotherapy .................................................................................................................. 57
3.4. Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging ................................................................................. 60
4. The Center for Experimental Therapeutics ........................................................................................ 64
4.1. Clinical Research Structures .......................................................................................................... 64
4.2. Translational Research Structures ................................................................................................ 75
5. Clinical Pharmacology ........................................................................................................................... 79
6. Surgical Oncology Programs ................................................................................................................ 82
6.1. Head and Neck Oncology Surgery ............................................................................................... 82
6.2. Thoracic Oncology Surgery ........................................................................................................... 84
6.3. Visceral Oncology Surgery ............................................................................................................ 88
6.4. Urologic Oncology Surgery ........................................................................................................... 90
6.5. Gynecologic Oncology Surgery .................................................................................................... 92
7. Pediatric Oncology ................................................................................................................................. 94
8. New Interdisciplinary Collaborations ................................................................................................ 96
8.1. The CHUV Brain Metastasis Program ......................................................................................... 96
8.2. Recent Collaborative Research Initiatives ................................................................................... 99
9. Centers of Excellence ........................................................................................................................... 104
10. Oncology Nursing ................................................................................................................................ 109
11. Collaborations & Partnerships ........................................................................................................... 112