Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) in New York City has announced a $100 million gift from the Marie-Josée and Henry R. Kravis Foundation in support of preclinical cancer research, discovery, and treatment.

The gift will launch the Marie-Josée and Henry R. Kravis Cancer Ecosystems Project, which is focused on bringing together teams of researchers to explore the interconnected elements that contribute to the relapse of cancer—the key driver of cancer deaths, according to MSK. Specifically, the initiative will recruit cancer researchers and computational scientists with advanced imaging, disease modeling, and analytical tools to learn how these different elements interact with one another and create therapies rooted in the understanding of both the intrinsic drivers of cancer, including genes, and emerging insights about the environment that nurtures and sustains cancer cells.

Longtime supporters of MSK, the Kravises have previously made gifts to establish the Marie-Josée and Henry R. Kravis Chair in Human Oncology and Pathogenesis, the Marie-Josée Kravis Women in Science Endeavor, and the Marie-Josée Kravis Fellowship in Quantitative Biology. And in 2014, they established the Marie-Josée and Henry R. Kravis Center for Molecular Oncology with a gift of $100 million.

“We are profoundly grateful to Marie-Josée and Henry R. Kravis for their generosity, which positions MSK to lead the next generation of advances in cancer research as we tackle the formidable challenge of metastasis,” said MSK president and CEO Craig B. Thompson. “The Kravis Cancer Ecosystems Project will benefit countless people with cancer and generations to come with innovative new therapies and treatment options and offer hope where it has never existed before.”

“We are honored to be able to continue our support of science and research at MSK through this initiative,” said Marie-Josée Kravis, who serves as vice chair of the MSK board. “Researchers at MSK, HOPP, and the CMO have already learned so much about cancer at the genetic level. We want to build on this work in order to create greater understanding of cancer’s relationship to the body and yield transformative treatments for people around the world.”

(Photo credit: Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center)