Pritzker Nanofabrication Facility announced
Midway News
PHILANTHROPY
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PHOTO COURTESY OF LUDWIG CANCER RESEARCH
Ralph Weichselbaum, MD, left, and Geoffrey Greene, PhD
Transformative gift for cancer research The University of Chicago Medicine & Biological Sciences received $90 million from Ludwig Cancer Research, part of a $540 million gift shared equally with five other pre-eminent institutions. The Ludwig Center at UChicago Medicine & Biological Sciences focuses on metastasis research under the direction of Geoffrey Greene, PhD, the Virginia and D.K. Ludwig Professor and chair of the Ben May Department for Cancer Research, and Ralph Weichselbaum, MD, the D.K. Ludwig Professor and chair of the Department of Radiation and Cellular Oncology. The gift will allow the Ludwig Center to expand its scope and scale and recruit outstanding research scientists. “Although metastasis is the leading cause of cancer deaths, accounting for 80 to 90 percent of cancer mortality, it has only recently become a major focus of research,” Weichselbaum said. “This will enable us to learn more about its basic biology and to use that knowledge to develop new therapies.” The gift adds to a $20 million endowment in 2006 that created Ludwig Centers at each of the six chosen institutions — UChicago, Dana-Farber/ Harvard University, Johns Hopkins University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and Stanford University. Ludwig Cancer Research’s total commitment to cancer research to date has now reached $2.5 billion. 2
he University of Chicago’s Institute for Molecular Engineering will build a major new facility for nanoscale fabrication within the William Eckhardt Research Center, supported by a $15 million gift from the Pritzker Foundation. With an advanced toolset and enough space for a wide range of projects, the 12,000-square-foot Pritzker Nanofabrication Facility will support work on new applications in computing, health care, communications, smart materials “We believe the new and more. “I am deeply grateful to the nanofabrication facility Pritzkers, whose generosity will benefit the Institute for Molecular holds great promise for Engineering and the University, breakthroughs that and enhance Chicago as a hub for discovery and innovation,” said can transform fields University of Chicago President of study and improve Robert J. Zimmer. “We believe the new nanofabri- human life.” cation facility holds great promise Thomas J. Pritzker for breakthroughs that can transform fields of study and improve human life,” said Thomas J. Pritzker, on behalf of the Pritzker Foundation. “We understand that this kind of project can’t be done piecemeal. It takes a significant investment, and we believe this facility will be an important contribution to greater Chicago’s innovation ecosystem.” The gift brings the total Pritzker Foundation contribution in support of the Institute for Molecular Engineering to $25 million. The William Eckhardt Research Center, a major new home for physical sciences and molecular engineering located on Ellis Avenue, is scheduled to open in early 2015. It will house the Institute for Molecular Engineering, along with other faculty offices and laboratories. The building was specially engineered to account for the particular needs of a large, below-ground clean room. The creation of the Pritzker Nanofabrication Facility will fulfill the vision for a multidisciplinary, state-of-the-art facility that will provide distinct advantages. “In size, in the variety of work it can support and in the technology of the toolset, the Pritzker Nanofabrication Facility will be a regional and national resource the day its doors open,” said Matthew Tirrell, the Pritzker Director of the Institute for Molecular Engineering. For more information, visit http://bit.ly/1k6qCJk.
CORRECTION
Among his many honors, the late Joel G. Schwab, MD, received the Doroghazi Clinical Teaching Award in 2012. The award was established by Robert Doroghazi, MD’77, immediate past president of the Alumni Council of the Medical & Biological Sciences Alumni Association. In the Fall 2013 issue of Medicine on the Midway, the award was listed incorrectly as the Pritzker School of Medicine Outstanding Clinical Teaching Award.
THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO MEDICINE AND BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES DIVISION