Johns Hopkins Medicine has announced a 15-year, $35 million commitment from researcher and race car driver Theodore Giovanis in support of cancer metastasis research.

The gift will establish the Giovanis Institute for Translational Cell Biology, which is dedicated to studying how cancer spreads through the body. To be housed in the Department of Cell Biology at Johns Hopkins Medicine on the East Baltimore campus, the institute will include a core group of cross-departmental scientists focused on the fundamental mechanisms of cancer metastasis and award grants to fund metastasis research more broadly. According to Johns Hopkins, cancer is the second leading cause of death in the United States, with estimates indicating that approximately two-thirds of cancer deaths are linked to metastasis.

Born in Baltimore, Giovanis, owner of Team TGM in the International Motor Sports Association, has long worked in hospital system finance and insurance regulation. His foundation, the Jayne Koskinas Ted Giovanis Foundation for Health and Policy, was named in honor of his late wife, who died from metastatic breast cancer in 2010.

“Cancer is most dangerous when the disease has spread to many parts of the body, and conventional treatments are not effective enough for patients with metastatic disease,” said Giovanis Institute director Andrew Ewald. “Research in our department has shown that many different cancers use similar molecular tools to spread, and we seek to design treatments to disrupt this process.”

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