Cinelli Family Foundation provides $10 million gift to support KU Cancer Center

Funds will promote the creation of cellular therapies on-site.

The Cinelli Family Foundation of Lawrence, Kansas has provided a $10 million gift to create a cellular therapeutics Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) laboratory in the new University of Kansas Cancer Center building. This marks the first gift made for this purpose and brings the total amount of funding raised so far to approximately $247 million. This amount includes funding from a variety of sources including individuals, private foundations, and the state of Kansas.

“In 1976, my mother died of leukemia, thus starting a decades-long journey for my siblings and me to really understand what it was like to have a parent die of cancer,” said Janet Cinelli, executive director and president of the Cinelli Family Foundation. “Fast forward to now, having lost my wonderful stepmother to pancreatic cancer. In her last days, she was very clear she wanted the foundation to support research into the three cancers that have impacted our family—leukemia, breast and pancreatic.”

Today, critical cancer therapy processing capabilities such as those that take place in a GMP laboratory are not readily available in the Kansas City region. Patients must wait while custom treatments developed from their cells are sent to laboratories outside of the region. These cells become the key ingredient in creating the therapies needed to support CAR T-cell therapy—a novel innovation to genetically alter immune cells, called T-cells (a type of white blood cells) that find and destroy cancer. By bringing a cellular therapeutics GMP laboratory in-house, the costs and wait time for the creation of these specialized cells will be reduced. 

“One of the reasons we wanted to give specifically to the GMP laboratory is because right now, CAR T-cells are being shipped out and sent back and that’s time some of these patients don’t have,” foundation deputy executive director, secretary and treasurer Eric Ryan said. “If things can be done in-house, we can really speed up the process and further both research and saving lives. So, it’s a win-win.”

Dr. Roy Jensen, vice chancellor and director, KU Cancer Center agrees that this will be a game-changer for the region.

“We are one of the few centers in the nation to offer all six FDA-approved CAR T-cell treatments,” said Dr. Jensen. “Being able to create the specialized cells in our building will undoubtedly save more lives and restore health to our patients faster as we no longer have extended wait times for cells to arrive from other labs.”

Critical work on building the infrastructure to support the new building will begin this fall with a formal groundbreaking planned for spring 2025.

“We are extremely grateful for the generosity of Janet, Eric and the entire Cinelli family,” said Dan Martin, president, KU Endowment. “As a family that has been personally touched by cancer multiple times, their investment is all the more meaningful. That they would make it their life’s mission to spare other families from the burden of cancer is both remarkable and life-affirming. On behalf of all those who are benefitting from the work of our team at KU Cancer Center, thank you for your investment in the future of cancer care.”