The University of Kansas Cancer Center (KUCC), part of the University of Kansas Medical Center (KUMC), has announced a $100 million gift from the Sunderland Foundation to fund the development and construction of a cancer center in Kansas City.

The largest gift in the history of the University of Kansas and the University of Kansas Health System (KUHS) is in addition to a $43 million grant awarded by the federal government earlier this year following KUCC’s designation as a comprehensive cancer center by the National Cancer Institute. KUCC plans to break ground on the new building in the fall of 2024.

The new center will consolidate patient care facilities as well as labs and research teams currently scattered across several campuses in the Kansas City metro area and Lawrence, and expand patient care—including access to nutritionists, social workers, pathology, and imaging labs, as well as access to more innovative clinical trials and groundbreaking therapies developed on site. In addition, the centralized facilities will provide greater opportunity to foster multidisciplinary collaborative research efforts, enabling scientists to work in real time with physicians to accelerate the delivery of personalized patient treatment options.

“Our vision is for the University of Kansas Cancer Center to be a beacon of hope and a global destination for both those with cancer and for scientists and clinicians seeking to cure cancer,” said UKCC director Roy Jensen. “This building will be a hub that brings together leading-edge patient care and innovation as we seek to transform both cancer care and cancer research in our quest to cure cancer—together.

“We do big things in Kansas City,” said KUHS president Bob Page. “This new building is more than a building; it is about taking a bold step to say, ‘We believe we can transform the way cancer research and care is provided in our region, across this country and around the globe.’ We not only will save more lives, we will change more lives and our community for the better.”

(Photo credit: University of Kansas Cancer Center)