The University of Louisville has announced a five-year, $20 million grant from the James Graham Brown Foundation to support research at the cancer center that bears Brown's name.

The largest gift in the university's history will be used to recruit researchers, particularly clinical care experts and their teams, and to provide support, infrastructure, and equipment for their research. The Louisville-based foundation awarded $12 million in 1980 to establish the center, which is part of the University of Louisville Health Sciences Center. According to the Louisville Courier-Journal, the latest grant was made to help the institution become a comprehensive cancer center, the highest of three designations from the National Cancer Institute.

The Brown Cancer Center has recruited more than ninety new doctors and researchers to Louisville while accomplishing research breakthroughs including advances in adult stem-cell biology; anti-cancer vaccines; nontoxic, targeted cancer therapies; and studies of cancer cell metabolism that provide a road map for future drug development.

"This gift is momentous not only because of its magnitude, but also because of the history of the foundation's commitment to the vision for a world-class cancer center at the University of Louisville — one that we are achieving with the tremendous support of our community," said U of L president James Ramsey "But perhaps more importantly, it is significant because of the hope it provides to the people of our state and region who are fighting this terrible disease."