Dartmouth Health has launched a new Division of Resilient and Sustainable Cancer Care at Dartmouth Cancer Center, the first of its kind at a National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated cancer center. Renowned oncology researcher Katie Lichter, MD, MPH, will helm the division as its inaugural director.
“Our mission is to make cancer care resilient in the face of disruptive events caused by climate change and reduce cancer care’s environmental footprint across the globe,” said Lichter. “That starts with listening to patients and families and understanding what matters most to them. And it ends with developing sustainable models of care that can be adopted by cancer centers everywhere to minimize health risks for future generations.”
Climate change disrupts cancer care in various ways, from air pollution and supply chain issues to natural disasters like wildfires and hurricanes. At the same time, certain widely used cancer treatments and related externalities may be contributing to climate change in small ways or accumulating potential contaminants in the environment which could pose a danger to public health over time.
The division’s work will center on two key priorities: building resilience by lowering barriers and ensuring uninterrupted, equitable care amid a changing climate, and reducing the environmental impacts of delivering high-quality care. Together, these efforts aim to align patient-centered care with long-term global health.
The first step in developing new models of resilience and sustainability in cancer care is to gather the evidence and study the existing dynamics at play, through patient surveys, data analysis and clinical partnerships across New Hampshire and Vermont.
Lichter holds dual faculty appointments in Radiation Oncology & Applied Sciences within Dartmouth Cancer Center and The Dartmouth Institute (TDI) for Health Policy & Clinical Practice. She is also a faculty affiliate at the Irving Institute for Energy & Society, where she works with colleagues across disciplines to develop multidimensional, collaborative solutions responsive to broader societal needs.
Lichter joins Dartmouth Health from the University of California, San Francisco, where she founded the Lichter GreenHealth Lab, which investigated the intersection of environmental health, climate change and cancer care. Lichter has transitioned the lab’s work to Dartmouth Health, as the Lichter Laboratory, where it will serve as the cornerstone of the new division, which was launched under the vision of former Dartmouth Cancer Center Director Steven D. Leach, MD., and Chair of Radiation Oncology Charles R. Thomas Jr., MD.
“Dartmouth Health has long been a critical provider of cancer care and cutting-edge cancer research, leading the country with groundbreaking clinical trials and setting the standard for compassionate, high-quality patient care,” said Thomas. “Now, this new Division of Resilient and Sustainable Cancer Care will generate pioneering science and evidence-based models that will bring individual and global needs and sensitivities into the standard practices of care worldwide.”
Dartmouth Cancer Center is one of the nation's premier facilities for cancer treatment and research. It is one of only 57 National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer centers in the United States. Dartmouth Cancer Center is a world leader in cancer prevention and control research, seeking to identify nutritional, environmental, and lifestyle factors that may cause cancer with 135 cancer research scientists working on about 250 active research projects aimed at curing cancer, understanding its causes, and promoting ways to prevent cancer before it starts.
Through its longstanding partnership with Dartmouth College and the Geisel School of Medicine, Dartmouth Cancer Center trains medical residents and fellows each year at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center and performs cutting-edge research and clinical trials.
The work also aligns closely with Dartmouth College’s broader institutional focus on resilience and sustainability.
About Dartmouth Cancer Center
Dartmouth Cancer Center combines advanced cancer research at Dartmouth and the Geisel School of Medicine, with award-winning, personalized, and compassionate patient-centered cancer care and clinical trials based at the Norris Cotton Cancer Care Pavilion at Dartmouth Health's Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center. With 14 locations around New Hampshire and Vermont, Dartmouth Cancer Center is one of only 57 National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers. Each year the Dartmouth Cancer Center schedules 74,000 appointments seeing more than 4,500 newly diagnosed patients, and currently offers patients more than 240 active clinical trials. Celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2022, Dartmouth Cancer Center remains committed to excellence, outreach and education. We strive to prevent and cure cancer, enhance survivorship and to promote cancer health equity through pioneering interdisciplinary research and collaborations. Learn more at the Dartmouth Cancer Center website.
About Dartmouth Health
Dartmouth Health, New Hampshire’s only academic health system and the state’s largest private employer, serves patients across northern New England. Dartmouth Health provides access to more than 2,000 providers in almost every area of medicine, delivering care at its flagship hospital, Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center (DHMC) in Lebanon, NH, as well as across its wide network of hospitals, clinics and care facilities. DHMC is consistently named the #1 hospital in New Hampshire by U.S. News & World Report, and is recognized for high performance in numerous clinical specialties and procedures. Dartmouth Health includes Dartmouth Cancer Center, one of only 57 National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers in the nation, and the only such center in northern New England; Dartmouth Health Children’s, which includes the state’s only children’s hospital and multiple locations around the region; member hospitals in Lebanon, Keene, Claremont and New London, NH, and Windsor and Bennington, VT; Dartmouth Health Home Care; and more than 24 clinics that provide ambulatory and specialty services across New Hampshire and Vermont. Through its historical partnership with Dartmouth and the Geisel School of Medicine, Dartmouth Health trains nearly 400 medical residents and fellows annually, and performs cutting-edge research and clinical trials recognized across the globe with Geisel and the White River Junction VA Medical Center in White River Junction, VT. Dartmouth Health and its more than 13,000 employees are deeply committed to serving the healthcare needs of everyone in our communities, and to providing each of our patients with exceptional, personal care.