National Institutes of Health, National Cancer Institute, 9000 Rockville Pike, Bethesda, Montgomery County, MD

Significance: Building 6 was constructed in 1939 specifically to house the newly established National Cancer Institute (NCI), the very first institute of the federal research center referred to at the time as the National Institute of Health (NIH). The NCI was created through the National Cancer Institute Act, approved by Congress on July 23, 1937, and signed into law by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt on August 5, 1937. The mission of the new NCI, as stated in the Act (P.L. No. 244) was to "conduct research, investigations, experiments, and studies relating to the cause, diagnosis, and treatment of cancer; assist and foster similar research activities by other agencies, public and private; and promote the coordination of all such researches and activities and the useful application of their results." The NCI would assist in the development and widespread use of the most effective methods of prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of cancer on both a national and international level. Creation of the NCI was significant to the overall history of NIH as its principles set forth the authorization of other research-specific institutes, leading eventually to the collective formation of the National Institutes of Health in 1948. Building 6 was the fourth building authorized for construction by the Public Health Service at the new NIH Bethesda site. The research conducted within this facility led to advancements in the early detection of cancer, methods for eradicating cancer cells through chemotherapy and radiation, improving environmental conditions to control preventable cancers, and identifying genetic factors that can determine the likelihood of developing this disease. The work conducted by the National Cancer Institute was instrumental in the establishment of the 1971 National Cancer Act, a $1.6 billion federal crusade against cancer. The NCI and the National Cancer Act provision can claim responsibility for reducing the incidence, suffering, and death from cancer across the nation and worldwide.
Survey number: HABS MD-1102-B
Building/structure dates: 1939 Initial Construction
Building/structure dates: 1979 Subsequent Work
Building/structure dates: 1988 Subsequent Work
Building/structure dates: 1964 Subsequent Work