The University of Kansas Cancer Center received an unprecedented $100 million gift from the Sunderland Foundation to establish a leading-edge cancer center. The gift is the largest donation in the foundation’s history and the most substantial ever received by the University of Kansas and The University of Kansas Health System.

The financial commitment provided by the Sunderland Foundation symbolizes hope and the opportunity for people in the Kansas City region to receive the highest level of cancer care close to home. “This vision represents an opportunity for us to use our financial resources to benefit a large and diverse population for many decades to come,” said Charlie Sunderland, Sunderland Foundation secretary. “We have a long history with KU, and we have great trust in this team to make significant strides in the future.”

The donation, paired with the $43 million in congressional funding spearheaded by U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran and other gifts, will help build an innovative cancer facility, equipped to provide trailblazing research and superior patient care.

Currently, the labs and their respective researchers are dispersed throughout the Kansas City area. KU Cancer Center leaders have wanted a building in a single location that would unite the entire cancer care community and better foster innovation and collaboration.

“Cancer is extraordinarily complex,” KU Cancer Center Director Roy Jensen said. “If we want to make a difference, we need to have different disciplines working together.”

KU Chancellor Douglas A. Girod added, “This facility will bring together our basic science researchers, our population health researchers, clinical trials researchers and our clinicians under the same roof for the first time here at the University of Kansas.”

This historic project is scheduled to break ground with phase one in fall 2024, pioneering the way for cancer research and cancer care.

“The reality with the building of this center is that people across the country and around the globe will be looking to us to find that cure and provide that treatment,” Sen. Moran said.

The new building represents a transformative initiative that not only signifies progress in clinical care and cancer research, but also anticipates a future where highly personalized treatments and advanced discoveries set the standard in the quest for a cure.