The Bunting Family and the Jacob and Hilda Blaustein Foundation have pledged $10 million each to the Johns Hopkins Oncology Center's new cancer research building. The $59 million facility, to be named for both the Bunting Family and the Family of Jacob and Hilda Blaustein, is scheduled to open in January 2000 at the northwest corner of Broadway and Orleans Street on the East Baltimore Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions campus.

"These generous gifts, from two distinguished Baltimore families, are an investment in the future of cancer research," says Edward D. Miller, M.D., CEO of Johns Hopkins Medicine and Dean of The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

The new Bunting Blaustein Building is a red-brick companion structure to the Johns Hopkins Comprehensive Cancer Center's clinical facility, located in the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Building, on the northeast corner of Broadway and Orleans Street. The Weinberg Building is scheduled to open in October 1999.

"By gathering leading cancer investigators under one roof, the new research facility will help us build more quickly upon our past successes and advance treatments more effectively," says Martin D. Abeloff, M.D., director of the Johns Hopkins Oncology Center. "Discoveries in cancer genetics, gene therapy, and pharmacogenetics have increased tremendously during the last decade. Enhancing the environment in which our scientists work will lead to even greater rates of discovery." Abeloff also calls the Bunting Blaustein Building "critical" to the success of recruiting new faculty and cultivating the careers of young researchers. Scientific programs focusing on cancer biology, including molecular genetics and molecular virology; hematologic malignancies, including leukemia and lymphoma; urologic oncology; gastrointestinal cancer; solid tumor research in breast, lung, head and neck, and brain malignancies; pharmacology and experimental therapeutics; immunology and hematopoiesis, and cancer prevention and control will be located in the research building.

The architects, HDR Architecture Inc. in association with Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Partnership and RMF Engineering, have designed the 10-story structure so that space above each floor of laboratories can accommodate utilities and other electronics while enabling repairs and equipment upgrades to be made without disruption of lab activity. Additional floor-to-floor height in the laboratory areas allows two floors of office space for every one floor of laboratory space, resulting in 10 stories of office space at each end of the building, with five stories of laboratories between the ends.

"Johns Hopkins has long been a leader in cancer research and this building assures that we can continue to combine the best of both science and medicine. Patients benefit from the rapid translation of research up to practical applications to enhance and save lives," says George L. Bunting, Jr., spokesman for the Bunting Family and former chairman of the Board of Johns Hopkins Medicine and current Board member.

"The Johns Hopkins Oncology Center and its team of pioneering and prestigious research scientists are leaders in the battle against cancer. The Trustees of our Foundation are most enthusiastic about contributing to this state-of-the-art facility. We hope the benefits which the scientists will derive from this facility will hasten the day when their critical efforts will eradicate cancer," says David Hirschhorn, president of the Jacob and Hilda Blaustein Foundation. The Trustees of the Foundation include the children of Jacob and Hilda Blaustein and members of the families of Barbara Hirschhorn, Elizabeth Roswell and the late Morton Blaustein.

The Jacob and Hilda Blaustein Foundation, located in Baltimore, was established in 1957 by Jacob Blaustein who, along with his father, Louis Blaustein, founded the American Oil Company (AMOCO) in 1910. Jacob Blaustein was not only a successful industrialist, but also engaged in extensive extra-curricular activities. He was a part-time diplomat, advisor to four U.S. Presidents and U.S. Delegate to the United Nations. He held leadership positions on the American Jewish Committee from the early 1940s until his death in 1970. He played a crucial role in gaining the inclusion of human rights provisions in the United Nations Charter. Through its commitment to the Jewish value of Tzedakah (Justice)--the responsibility to give to the community--the foundation supports a wide range of institutions and causes throughout the world.

The Bunting Family is well known for its active participation in the Baltimore community. In the 1920s, Dr. George Avery Bunting, a pharmacist, researched and invented Noxzema skin cream and founded the business which became Noxell Corporation. Dr. Bunting's leadership of Noxell Corporation was assumed first by his son, G. Lloyd Bunting, Sr., and then, in 1973, by his grandson, George L. Bunting, Jr. In 1990, Noxell Corporation was acquired by Procter & Gamble. The Bunting Family pledged this gift to honor George Avery Bunting, G. Lloyd Bunting, Sr., and the Baltimore community.

In addition to the gifts from the Bunting Family and the Blaustein Foundation, additional funding is being provided by the State of Maryland, other private donors, the National Cancer Institute, and Johns Hopkins institutional resources. The private support needed for both cancer buildings totals $93.5 million, of which nearly $84 million has been raised. The construction manager for the Bunting Blaustein Building is Clark/Smoot Joint Venture, a collaborative effort of the Clark Construction Group, Inc. and the Sherman R. Smoot Corp.

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