Institut Gustave Roussy, Villejuif

The Institute Gustave-Roussy (IGR), the leading European anticancer centre, assembles on the same site 2, 500 men and women whose missions are to treat patients suffering from cancer, conduct research and develop new therapies, and to pass on knowledge and know-how to the medical and scientific communities in France and world-wide. In the 400-bed hospital with its 124 statutory physicians, annually over 11, 000 new patients are recruited, 130, 000 patients attend its clinics and 42, 000 patients receive treatment. Research is conducted by 400 research scientists under the oversight of a scientific council, a therapeutic trials commission and a clinical research committee. Over 5, 000 hours of instruction are taught in its School of Oncology in collaboration with the University of Paris. Each of these three missions is founded on principles that are the guiding force behind IGR's actions daily: the excellence principle, through which efforts are united to establish quality standards in oncology; the innovation principle, that is urgently needed for many cancers that are still incurable; the evaluation principle, without which it is impossible to advance in a rigorous and methodical manner along the path to new therapies. Situated in the heart of Europe, at the gateway to Paris, the Institute Gustave-Roussy is poised to undergo thorough restructuring and renovation at the beginning of the 21st century, to enhance its efficacy in its primary commitment towards patients, the fight against cancer.