Break Through Cancer Launches Collaborative Model With MD Anderson, Top U.S. Research Institutions

[Highrise Tower]

Break Through Cancer launches collaborative model with MD Anderson, top U.S. research institutions in pursuit of cancer cures

https://www.mdanderson.org/newsroom/break-through-cancer-launches-collaborative-model-with-md-anderson-top-us-research-institutions-pursuit-cancer-cures.h00-159458478.html

Break Through Cancer today announced its formal launch as a public foundation designed to find new solutions to the most intractable challenges in cancer. The foundation is being launched with an extraordinary challenge pledge of $250 million from Mr. and Mrs. William H. Goodwin, Jr. and their family, and the estate of William Hunter Goodwin III. This represents one of the largest gifts ever in support of cancer research.

Researchers from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center will join collaborative teams funded and supported by Break Through Cancer along with other top cancer centers - Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins, the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at MIT, and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Tyler Jacks, Ph.D., the David H. Koch Professor of Biology and Founding Director of the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at MIT, will lead the effort.

Break Through Cancer will focus on historically highly challenging cancer types, including pancreatic cancer, ovarian cancer, glioblastoma, and acute myelogenous leukemia (AML), for its initial programs, aided by the guidance of a scientific advisory board of cancer experts from outside the participating institutions. Teams will receive substantial funding to bring new approaches and new thinking as rapidly as possible to the clinical challenges of cancer.

“Break Through Cancer’s model builds on the outstanding efforts of the broader cancer research community and presents the potential for major advances in our shared fight against these intractable cancers,” said Dr. Jacks, President of Break Through Cancer. “Our tagline, “collaborating for cures,” captures our collective goal to empower many of the brightest, most dedicated minds in cancer research and to maximize the capabilities of these highly respected institutions. In the future, we look forward to partnering with the broader philanthropic, biotech, and pharmaceutical communities to expand the impact.