Cancer Research

Let’s end cancer as we know it. Together.
The OHSU Knight Cancer Institute has earned an international reputation for innovative research. This is no accident. Scientific progress is built on creative ideas, advanced technology, tireless dedication, and a healthy dose of luck. But it also requires something that is sometimes overlooked — teamwork.
Team science is fundamental to our mission. This means we seek a diversity of scientific disciplines, expertise, and voices. Whether you’re a graduate researcher starting your career, a seasoned investigator looking for partners, or a survivor willing to share your experience, we want to work with you.
This emphasis on collaboration has helped us:
- Develop lifesaving therapies such as Gleevec, CAR T-cell therapy and NK therapy.
- Conduct more than 100 clinical trials and early-detection tests.
- Win more than $126 million in grants in fiscal year 2023.
- Gain national recognition for work in targeted therapy, cell therapy, precision oncology, surgical oncology, early detection, biofabrication and many other fields.
Research program
The Knight has more than 900 researchers, including faculty, post-docs, scientists, technicians, technologists, computational biologists, biostatisticians and others in 120 units. But we are more than the sum of our parts. We are a connected team united by the goal of ending cancer as we know it. Learn more about our program.

Centers, programs, groups and labs
Find out more about the innovative research at the heart of our mission.

Find a cancer researcher
Want to collaborate? Contact the researchers who are fighting to end cancer.

Resources
We offer a wide array of shared resources for cancer researchers to assist in their discoveries.
OHSU dermatologists detect the world’s smallest skin cancer

The spot was less than 1 mm wide, almost invisible to the human eye. The OHSU team used reflectance confocal microscopy and molecular imaging to confirm that it was a melanoma, one of the most dangerous types of skin cancer. Doctors and researchers emphasize the importance of early cancer detection.