Harlyne J. Norris
Research Tower
The USC/Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center is in the midst of a major expansion, constructing new research facilities and expanding its faculty.
Harlyne J. Norris Cancer Research Tower
Completed in April 2007, the Harlyne J. Norris Research Tower is a 10-story, 172,000-square-foot building adjacent to the existing USC/Norris facilities. This new structure joins the original USC/Norris building, Ezralow Family Research Tower, and the Norman Topping Research Tower to complete a trio of structures that combine world-class research and leading-edge clinical trials with high-caliber, compassionate patient care.
The new tower provides five floors devoted to basic research, two floors for preventive medicine research, an atrium with attached lobby, a conference center and a landscaped courtyard. The building is dedicated to the vision of the late Kenneth Norris Jr. - husband of the building's namesake - "to make cancer a disease of the past."
New Hospital at CHLA
Construction is underway on a seven-floor, 317-bed New Hospital Building at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles, which will be wrapped around the H. Russell and Jeanne R. Smith Research Tower.
Some say that when the 460,000 square-foot New Hospital at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles opens in 2009, it will be the finest medical and surgical environment for seriously ill and injured children anywhere in the United States.
The New Hospital at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles will include an Emergency Department; imaging facilities; a Cancer Day Hospital, with a 48-bed acute care Hematology/Oncology unit and a 14-bed Bone Marrow Transplant (BMT) unit; a 24-bed Cardiothoracic Intensive Care Unit (CTICU) and a 21-bed acute inpatient medical heart unit; a 24-bed Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU); and a 58-bed Center for Newborn and Infant Critical Care (CNICC). There will be 128 additional medical and surgical acute care beds.
New Faculty Members
In addition to expanding its facilities, USC/Norris also is adding to its faculty. USC/Norris recently welcomed these new members:
Dennis R. Trinidad, Ph.D., MPH is an Assistant Professor of Preventive Medicine at the Keck School of Medicine. His research examines the social, environmental, and individual factors relevant to racial/ethnic disparities in cancer risk behaviors, with an emphasis on both parenting practices and smoking. He is a member of the national Tobacco Research Network on Disparities (TReND) and is a Co-Chair of the Tobacco Related Health Disparities Committee of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco (SRNT).
Dr. Garcia is originally from Mexico and earned his Medical Degree from Universidad Anahuac in Mexico City. He completed his internship and residency training in Internal Medicine at the University of Illinois and a Fellowship in Medical Oncology at the University of Southern California. He is board certified in Medical Oncology. Dr. Garcia currently serves as Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine. Dr. Garcia's primary clinical and research interests focus on women’s cancers (particularly breast and ovarian cancer) and drug development. He served as Associate Editor for the Women’s Oncology Review. Dr. Garcia is the principal investigator of several trials in the Gynecologic Oncology Group and he is conducting studies in breast and ovarian cancer evaluating new agents with novel mechanisms of action. Dr. Garcia is a member of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, American Society of Breast Disease, European Society of Medical Oncology, Southern California Academy of Clinical Oncology, the Gynecologic Oncology Group and the South West Oncology Group.
While her main research focus is prostate cancer, Tanya Dorff, MD, has worked on projects in testicular and bladder cancers as well. Her interest is in translational research, utilizing molecular correlative studies and novel approaches to advance understanding of cancer therapy effectiveness and resistance mechanisms. She has a strong interest in hormone therapy and complementary therapy, and has obtained an IND to study a combination herbal supplement for biochemically recurrent prostate cancer. And most importantly, Dr. Dorff enjoys patient care and education, helping patients and their loved ones navigate the complex information about cancer treatment.
Amir Goldkorn, M.D., assistant professor of medicine at the Keck School of Medicine, is an oncologist who specializes in genitourinary (GU) malignancies. Clinically, Dr. Goldkorn treats patients with advanced cancers of the prostate, bladder, kidney, and testis, and he participates as an investigator in several of the ongoing GU clinical trials at Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center. Dr. Goldkorn’s research interests lie in the area of experimental therapeutics, and his laboratory focuses on targeting telomerase, an enzyme that is critical for cancer cell proliferation and tumor growth. Dr. Goldkorn’s lab also studies novel therapeutic approaches to cancer stem cells, a unique sub-population of tumor cells with the capacity to self-renew and to differentiate into additional tumors while remaining unscathed by available treatments. Successful targeting of cancer stem cells, by telomerase interference or by other strategies, may be the key to eliminating the source of deadly cancer recurrences and metastases.
Si-Yi Chen, M.D., Ph.D., Professor of Molecular Microbiology & Immunology at the Keck School of Medicine. His research interests include studies on regulation of innate and adaptive immunity, immune and gene therapy against cancer, and immune and gene therapy against HIV infection.