FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) — Expanding advanced care and treatment in Central California.
“We’re really building the future where geography does not dictate access to advanced therapies or cutting-edge treatments,” says Dr. Haifaa Abdulhaq, Director of the Cellular Therapy Program at Community Cancer Institute and Director of Hematology at UCSF Fresno.
This year, the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine awarded the Community Cancer Institute in Clovis a $9 million grant to establish a Community Care Center of Excellence in the Central Valley.
Community Cancer Institute is one of three medical facilities to receive the money.
The center will be based out of the Clovis Community Medical Center campus.
“This is going to be a comprehensive program,” says Dr. Abdulhaq. “We’re going to build a cellular therapy lab for processing gene and cell therapy, but we will also build a platform for manufacturing these treatments.”
Plans are already in place for where to build the 2000-square-foot facility.
Over the summer, Clovis Community became the first in the Central Valley to offer CAR T therapy.
Dr. Abdulhaq says the collaboration between UCSF Fresno and Community Health also played a role.
“This type of partnership has been instrumental in setting the platform for us to be able to have all the infrastructure in place so we can apply for such a grant,” she said.
Through the grant funding, it’s helping to create hope for the future.
“To me, this is a transformational program that will change the history of healthcare in the Central Valley,” Dr. Abdulhaq said.
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