Resolve dispute at Cancer Center

The upheaval among unhappy faculty members at the University of Hawaii Cancer Center over the management style of its director may be an internal problem at this point, but without a prompt move toward resolution it may explode into something far more wide-reaching and worse than that.

If that director, Dr. Michele Carbone, wants to remain in charge, he must answer the myriad complaints in a public way, to counter the very public bruising the center’s reputation already has taken.

What’s remarkable about this conflict is its intensity and scope. More than 20 complaints and grievances have been filed against Carbone since he took the post about four years ago.

Most recently, they have focused on a lack of transparency when decisions affecting faculty are made, distributing resources unfairly and creating a hostile work environment.

There’s been significant turnover at the center, and Carbone’s critics call for his removal from office.

Although the university won’t confirm this, Carbone’s opponents cited unattributed reports that the UH-Manoa chancellor tried to dismiss him, but was blocked by the UH Board of Regents and Carbone’s supporters in the Legislature.

Repeated attempts by the Star-Advertiser to get Carbone’s response have been fruitless so far. In the midst of that silence, the criticisms ring out loudly.

One specific example: In a lengthy letter to the regents, Lynne Wilkens, a faculty member and a principal investigator for a study known as the Multiethnic Cohort, said her research grant from the National Cancer Institute was endangered by the director. Another investigator post in the study, which deals with the incidence of cancer among ethnic groups in Hawaii and southern California, was reassigned by Carbone to someone without the necessary experience, Wilkens wrote.

Carbone’s decision was reversed by the NCI, but the point is this episode did not strengthen relations with the federal funding institute.

"Reassignment of the leadership of a project that an investigator has built over a career is cruel and capricious," Wilkens wrote.

Carbone has his defenders, to be sure. Among them is state Sen. Josh Green, chairman of the state Senate Health Committee, who said the embattled director was instrumental in getting the center’s new home adjacent to the medical school completed on time and under budget.

He also speculated that there could be professional competition behind the tension — and while that may be true, a manager who has elicited this much dissatisfaction may not be laying the foundation for stability and growth at the center, which attracts $30 million in grant funds annually. It is critical to Hawaii that cancer research be done, especially studies that are targeted to Hawaii’s population.

Green suggested mediation rather than sudden changes, and he may be right about that. But even mediation can’t work without everyone at the table.

It’s time for the director to step forward and engage with the decision makers who have some oversight, and with the faculty members on whom, ultimately, success will depend.