Former mayor of New York City Michael Bloomberg and other prominent philanthropists are donating a total of $125 million to Baltimore-based JohnsHopkinsUniversity to create a new institute dedicated to immunotherapy cancer research, according to The Washington Post.
Mr. Bloomberg will donate $50 million and Sidney Kimmel, a philanthropist and founder of Jones Apparel Group, will donate another $50 million for the new institute, which will be housed in the SidneyKimmelComprehensiveCancerCenter at JohnsHopkinsUniversity.
Mr. Bloomberg said he expects these contributions will add to the momentum behind the Obama administration's cancer "moonshot" initiative, of which Vice President Joe Biden is taking the lead. "If some people are willing to put in their own money, it will make it more credible," said Mr. Bloomberg, according to the report.
Johns Hopkins President Ronald Daniels said he approached Mr. Bloomberg last November and expressed concerns that the university would lose members of its cancer research team to other institutions if Hopkins didn't provide additional funding for their work. Mr. Bloomberg agreed and contacted Mr. Kimmel.
The new institute, called the Bloomberg-Kimmel Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy, will focus on melanoma, colon, pancreatic, urologic, lung, breast and ovarian cancers. Funding will be primarily used for research but will also be used to recruit scientists.
Over the years, Mr. Bloomberg has given more than $1.2 billion to Hopkins, his alma mater, and Mr. Kimmel has contributed more than $157 million to the university.