Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center has created the Fiona and Stanley Druckenmiller Presidential Innovation Fund, which will seed projects in translational cancer medicine.
The initiative is made possible by a $100 million gift from the Fiona and Stanley Druckenmiller Foundation.
The fund will support studies identified by MSK’s president and chief executive officer—in consultation with MSK’s physician-in-chief and chief medical officer and the director of the Sloan Kettering Institute—as having the highest potential for transformational impact for people with cancer. It also will provide guidance and flexible funding for MSK’s translational research efforts.
“We wanted to create more opportunities to support research endeavors that could lead to lifesaving treatments for many people with cancer,” Mrs. Druckenmiller said in a statement. “We’re confident that the fund will have a transformative effect on cancer outcomes over the next 10 years.”
Mr. Druckenmiller has served on MSK’s board of trustees since 1997. In 2015, the Druckenmillers made a gift to establish the Fiona and Stanley Druckenmiller Center for Lung Cancer Research. Through this center, MSK has conducted research in liquid biopsy, patient-derived xenografts, and organoid research.
“Time and time again, we have witnessed the incredible advances that come from placing resources in the hands of talented doctors and scientists,” Mr. Druckenmiller said in a statement. “I can’t think of another institution better positioned to shape the future of cancer care than MSK.”
