The Knight Cancer Institute at Portland-based Oregon Health & Science University has received a $2 billion gift from Phil and Penny Knight.
The gift will be used to establish a new cancer care delivery model, enabling the institute to accelerate how quickly and effectively its cancer research discoveries are integrated into clinical care, according to an Aug. 14 news release from the university.
The university has established the Knight Cancer Group to govern the Knight Cancer Institute’s new model and manage OHSU’s cancer services. Brian Druker, MD, a professor of medicine in the division of hematology/medical oncology, the JELD-WEN chair of leukemia research and lead developer of the leukemia drug Gleevec, will serve as inaugural president of the organization.
“Penny and Phil Knight have always challenged us to do what no one else is doing,” Dr. Druker said in the release. “We have revolutionized the way we detect and treat cancer. Now we are going to transform the way we care for patients while continuing to develop innovative treatments.”
Co-founder of Nike, Mr. Knight and his wife previously gave the institute $500 million as part of the Knight Cancer Challenge, which ended up raising $1 billion for the institute in 2015.
OHSU President Shereef Elnahal, MD, said the gift was an “unprecedented investment in the millions of lives burdened with cancer.”
“It is also a signal of trust in the superlative work that our clinicians, researchers and teammates at the Knight Cancer Institute do every day,” he said. “Dr. Druker’s vision around a multidisciplinary system of care will now become reality.”
The only NCI-designated comprehensive cancer in Oregon, the Knight Cancer Institute at OHSU Hospital earned the 27th spot on U.S. News and World Report’s 2025 ranking of the top 50 cancer hospitals in the country. The institute treats about 6,000 patients and conducts about 1,400 research projects — including more than 400 clinical trials — each year.
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