Wednesday, Jan. 5, 2005 | 10:53 a.m.
The Nevada Cancer Institute has received what could be its biggest donation ever -- a $25 million matching-funds grant from the Greenspun Family Foundation that could bring in as much as $70 million.
The young institute, which hopes to become the state's first nationally recognized cancer center, announced the gift today.
If the grant's requirements are met and the full $25 million is given, it will be the largest donation the institute has received, said Heather Murren, the institute's president and CEO.
"We receive the gift truly once it's matched," Murren said, adding that the donation has the potential to take a fledgling institution to the next level.
"This gives us the opportunity to transform ourselves into something nationally and internationally significant."
The challenge grant is aimed at attracting both big and small donations from the local community, said Shelley Gitomer, the institute's vice president for development.
Of the $25 million, $5 million is an outright grant. The other $20 million is contingent on two requirements, Gitomer said.
First, the institute must get a donation of at least $25 million from a single source, be it a person, a group, a foundation or a company.
Second, it must raise at least $20 million from multiple donors. That would put the institute on the pace it has maintained in its two and a half years of existence, during which it has raised more than $40 million.
Murren said the institute hopes to reach those goals by the end of the year.
Brian Greenspun, a director of the foundation, noted that the family had given the institute $5 million about a year ago.
"Heather Murren came to the family again and told us of a much greater vision" for what the institute could be, said Greenspun, who is also president and editor of the Las Vegas Sun.
"Very frankly, she's a great saleswoman, and we bought into it. We believe this cancer center can become one of the greatest in the nation."
Together, the foundation and the institute conceived of the grant's format as a way to get others involved, Greenspun said.
Gitomer, who formerly directed development at the premier cancer center at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, has experience with challenge grants. She said they "can be very successful for motivating a whole community."
"This really is for people at all levels," she said of the Greenspun gift. "We need both big and small donors. Every gift is important."
The cancer institute was founded in April 2002 to address a clear need. While some cancer treatment is available at private clinics in Nevada, those who can afford it often go out of state to seek treatment for the disease.
"We know how fortunate people are who can travel when they have a problem to the best cancer centers," Greenspun said. "We want people in Nevada to have the same opportunity."
The institute is building its main facility in Summerlin and hopes to open the 140,000-square-foot building in July. In addition, an office in Reno, which is already staffed, is set to open officially in March.
The institute's vision is to offer both state-of-the-art cancer treatment for Nevadans and cutting-edge research that furthers scientific knowledge. It wants to host Nevada's first Phase I clinical trials -- the earliest human tests of potential new treatments.
The institute's funding so far includes a $50 million loan as well as the $40 million in gifts prior to today's Greenspun donation. That has enabled it to get started with the basics, Murren said: putting up a major building and hiring top faculty.
With today's grant, next steps can be taken, Murren said. "We need to endow professorships to entice the best and brightest researchers," she said. "We want to support programs within the community to learn about the needs of patients. And at some point we will need to expand."
The Summerlin building will be filled to capacity when it opens, meaning the institute will need more space if it is to grow. The institute eventually envisions a whole campus on the 60-acre Summerlin site, as well as a facility in Reno.
Greenspun said the foundation felt compelled to help the institute in its worthy mission.
"Every family will be touched by cancer, either through a family member or a close friend," he said. "My family is no different. We all have an obligation to do what we can."
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