At a late afternoon ceremony today on the East
Baltimore medical campus, Johns Hopkins' second cancer
research building will be named to honor philanthropist and
university trustee David Koch. Koch, the executive vice
president of the nation's largest privately held company,
recently donated $20 million in support of the building.
The newly named David H. Koch Cancer Research Building
opened in March and expands a complex for cancer
investigators on the southwest corner of the Johns Hopkins
medical campus. With five floors of laboratories and 10
stories of office space, the 267,000-square-foot building
is home to researchers in fields including prostate, brain,
pancreas, skin, lung, and head and neck cancers. A 250-seat
high-tech auditorium connects the Koch Building with the
Bunting Blaustein Cancer Research Building.
"I am pleased to be able to support the work being
done by Hopkins' cancer researchers," Koch said. "Their
commitment to curing cancer is inspiring, and I can't
imagine a more worthy investment. The quality of the cancer
research at Hopkins is equal to the best in the world, and
I am sure that breakthrough discoveries on the treatment of
cancer will be made in the future in this building."
At a dinner in Koch's honor on Sunday night,
university President William R. Brody thanked Koch for his
commitment to cancer research at Johns Hopkins. "The value
of this building is not just in its high-tech facilities
but in the ways it will bring researchers and clinicians
together," Brody said. "David's extraordinary generosity
will make possible new kinds of collaborative research that
offers tremendous promise in the fight against cancer."
In keeping with Koch's interest in cancer research,
today's dedication ceremony will include brief scientific
presentations from five of Johns Hopkins' most prominent
scientists. Henry Brem, Cushing Professor of Neurosurgery;
Curt Civin, Samuelson Professor in Oncology; Theodore
DeWeese, chair of Radiation Oncology and Molecular
Radiation Sciences; Elizabeth Jaffee, Broccoli Professor of
Oncology; and Saraswati Sukumar, Rubenstein Professor in
Oncology, will each highlight recent breakthroughs in
cancer research at the
Kimmel Cancer Center and across Johns Hopkins.
"Mr. Koch's generous gift brings the Johns Hopkins
community of cancer scientists together and helps us link a
variety of departments to build interdisciplinary programs
that will strengthen our research activities," said Martin
D. Abeloff, Marion I. Knott Professor of Oncology and
Director of the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center.
Edward D. Miller, the Frances Watt Baker, M.D., and
Lenox D. Baker Jr., M.D., Dean of the Medical Faculty and
chief executive officer of Johns Hopkins Medicine, said,
"With this gift, the scientists housed in this building
will speed the pace of revolutionary research."
David H. Koch (pronounced koke) joined the
family-owned Koch Industries in 1970. Headquartered in
Wichita, Kan., the firm comprises a diverse group of
companies in oil and gas trading and refining, as well as
other ventures. Koch earned his bachelor's and master's
degrees in chemical engineering at the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology. He is a longtime supporter of the
university and cancer research — with gifts to Johns
Hopkins and other institutions totaling more than $150
million. Koch is also a member of the National Cancer
Advisory Board.
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