Indiana University School of Medicine is the country's second largest public medical school with more than 1,000 full-time faculty, 2,000 volunteer faculty, 1,700 staff, 1,400 students and nearly 800 resident physicians. It serves the state through its statewide medical education system located on nine university campuses throughout Indiana. The IU Cancer Center builds on the strength of Indiana University School of Medicine, and has been recognized as a premier national center for the study of cancer and the development of new cancer treatments by the National Cancer Institute. (As an NCI-designated clinical cancer center, the IU Cancer Center receives a five-year, $6.3 million support grant. The grant bolsters the $33.3 million annual funding currently received for cancer research projects at IU). The research efforts of the Center serve as a critical bridge between laboratory investigations and the practice of medicine, targeting clinical problems in the laboratory and applying advances made in basic science to questions of disease, etiology, and treatment.