Welcome from the Director

Mark A. Israel, MD

Dartmouth’s Norris Cotton Cancer Center is one of the nation’s premier cancer institutions, making significant contributions to cancer science nationally and internationally, while providing the most advanced cancer treatment options to our regional neighbors.

Everything we do, every day, is focused on excellence and innovation in cancer prevention, treatment, and education. I am impressed daily by the dedication of our clinicians, staff, and research scientists as they partner with one another to solve the complex problems cancer presents. I am impressed by their insights and perseverance as they collaborate to improve the lives of cancer patients and cancer survivors, and to create new knowledge about cancer prevention, early diagnosis, and cancer treatment. I am impressed by the close, productive relationships that bond scientist and clinician, doctor and nurse, clinician and patient, and patient and staff.

I am deeply proud of the fact that since 1972, when the National Cancer Institute opened its doors, Norris Cotton Cancer Center has received NCI’s highest level of recognition. As an NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center, we are today among a select group of distinguished centers—39 in the United States—that provide leadership in the national effort to understand cancer. Norris Cotton Cancer Center has a highly interactive community of 135 research scientists with 250 research projects and a total funding of more than $60 million.

Our Cancer Center treats patients with all forms of cancer in accessible, welcoming facilities that create a positive environment for cure and recovery. At our main campus in Lebanon, New Hampshire, and at regional sites in New Hampshire and Vermont, our patients receive technologically advanced cancer treatments—developed here and in collaboration with scientists across the country. Each patient is seen as an individual, and an individualized treatment plan is developed by a team of specialists who work directly with the patient, the family, and the referring physician.

Innovative, compassionate care is a point of pride for our medical staff. Our interdisciplinary teams pay particular attention to preventing disfigurement, controlling symptoms, eliminating pain, and coping with the emotional distress caused by cancer—all to ensure optimal quality of life for cancer survivors.