By Hunstman Cancer Institute Communications and Public Affairs

It’s an historic time for Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah. On July 9 HCI announced it had received the National Cancer Institute’s Comprehensive Cancer Center status, the highest designation possible.

“This designation is the culmination of years of hard work and dedication by all members of our community,” says Mary Beckerle, Ph.D., CEO and director of HCI. “Securing this designation required excellence at every level of our organization. It is especially gratifying that such an honor comes only after rigorous scientific peer review of our programs, people, facilities and strategic plan for the future.”

That rigorous peer review included a daylong, on-site visit by national cancer research experts and thought leaders in the fourth quarter of 2014.

With this new status, HCI joins distinguished cancer centers such as Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, MD Anderson Cancer Center, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute of Harvard University, Johns Hopkins Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center and the Mayo Clinic Cancer Center — recognized among the top cancer centers in the world.

HCI is the only cancer center to be designated by the National Cancer Institute in the five-state Intermountain West region, which includes Utah, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho and Nevada — more than 17 percent of the continental U.S. landmass.

Watch the video below to learn more about what Comprehensive Cancer Center designation means for HCI, the university and the future of cancer research and patient care.