SIU School of Medicine’s cancer institute almost ready

To Kounosuke Watabe and other researchers and doctors at Springfield’s Southern Illinois University School of Medicine, the almost-completed brick building at Rutledge and Carpenter streets is much more than a clinic for cancer patients. 

“We can now say we have a cancer institute,” said Watabe, an SIU faculty member and longtime cancer researcher. “That is key.” 

He said the $21.5 million building is a symbol that SIU is committed to converting discoveries by SIU scientists into the latest cancer treatments for residents of central and southern Illinois. 

“That’s really a practical aspect that’s really good,” said Watabe, 56, who came to SIU in 1985 and has spent much of his life trying to learn how breast and prostate cancers spread throughout the body. 

He is among 55 researchers and physicians connected with SIU’s SimmonsCooper Cancer Institute, an entity that began in 2000 and operates out of several locations in Springfield and Carbondale. 

The institute will become much more visible to the public as its new headquarters is dedicated Thursday during a ribbon-cutting and celebration ceremony. 

“This is a huge effort,” said Dr. John Godwin, 56, an oncologist who is the institute’s associate director for clinical services. “There are so many exciting things about getting into this building.” 

The new building, which has three floors, will allow SIU to move most of its cancer-care teams to one location. 

The teams of doctors, nurses and other professionals can develop treatment plans with a variety of specialists without having to set up multiple doctor visits on different days. The teams also brainstorm on treatment options, Godwin said. 

“This is important because of the complexity of cancer care,” he said. He hopes the teams can be expanded to the extent that fewer local patients will decide to turn to physicians in cities such as Chicago and St. Louis for cancer treatment and second opinions. 

Cancer research and treatment has gone on at SIU for years. Current multi-year cancer research grants total $13.2 million. 

Godwin said the new building will help SIU recruit even more researchers and doctors, and it will provide additional laboratory space. 

“It is a focal point that enables us to continue to grow,” he said. 

The inside of one area designed for laboratories — the third floor — hasn’t been completed because of rising construction costs. SIU is trying to raise the needed $2.5 million through private donations. SIU spokeswoman Nancy Zimmers said about $500,000 already has been collected, in large part from SIU’s “Denim and Diamonds” fundraisers. 

The building also will allow SIU to move its chemotherapy area from the nearby Baylis Medical Building, where SIU rents space from Memorial Medical Center. 

Godwin said the more spacious chemotherapy area, and much of the building, will receive lots of natural light from the cathedral-style windows, which have been tinted green to match SIU’s signature color scheme. 

There always will be “some degree of competition” between SIU’s cancer institute and other non-SIU doctors in Springfield who treat cancer, he said. But he said the institute, in the long term, will expand knowledge and make life better for all cancer patients in the region. 

More information about the institute is available at www.siumed

.edu/cancer/index.html.

Dean Olsen can be reached at 788-1543.