The May Department Stores Foundation and Edward Jones each have pledged $1 million toward the Emerson-Busch challenge grant.
The challenge grant, a $10-million gift from Emerson’s Charitable Trust and the Anheuser-Busch Foundation, will expand research space and support and help ensure that people in and around St. Louis have access to the most advanced cancer treatments. This gift is being used as a challenge to generate $20 million in additional matching support from Washington University School of Medicine, Barnes-Jewish Hospital and the Siteman Cancer Center.
“These gifts from May and Edward Jones will benefit efforts to lessen the burden of cancer on communities in the St. Louis area, the Midwest and beyond for years to come,” said Mark S. Wrighton, chancellor of Washington University. “We extend our gratitude for their support of the Siteman Cancer Center.”
Emerson’s Charitable Trust and the Anheuser-Busch Foundation are contributing $6 million and $4 million respectively. The challenge grant will further St. Louis’ role as home to a nationally recognized cancer research and treatment program and meet some of the highest priorities of the Siteman Cancer Center at Washington University School of Medicine and Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis.
“The Siteman Cancer Center is a tremendous resource for the St. Louis community and the nation,” said Gene Kahn, chairman of the board and chief executive officer of The May Department Stores Co. “The Center is quickly becoming an international leader in patient care, cancer research, prevention and education. We feel honored to be among its major supporters and are very proud that our pledge is the first commitment toward the $10 million challenge grant funded by Emerson and Anheuser-Busch.”
First priority for funding through the Emerson-Busch challenge grant is expansion of cancer research space and programs in a new cancer research facility, which will be located on the top floors of the Southwest Tower in the heart of Washington University Medical Center. The basic and applied research supported by this gift are crucial in finding new treatments and diagnostic techniques for cancer patients. Siteman is the only National Cancer Institute-designated cancer center in the region, and one of only 61 in the country.
“We are excited to be helping this well-known leader in cancer care by supporting its cutting-edge cancer research efforts and helping to ensure the best possible patient care programs are available for members of our community, our region and beyond,” said Douglas E. Hill, managing partner of Edward Jones. “And we are pleased to continue our partnership with the Siteman Cancer Center through this new commitment.”
The new research center in the eight-story Barnes-Jewish Hospital Southwest Tower will include laboratories and offices for 11 principal investigators and their research teams, plus necessary support space. It also will house and promote expansion of research programs such as the Stem Cell Biology Program and the Bone Marrow Transplantation Program, which is one of the top four of its kind in the United States.
Based in St. Louis, The May Department Stores Co. is one of the country’s leading department store retailers. May operates more than 440 department stores and 680 Bridal Group stores in 46 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.
Edward Jones, also headquartered in St. Louis, is one of the fastest-growing financial services firms in the nation. The firm, which serves more than 6 million clients from more than 9,000 offices in the United States and through its affiliates in Canada and the United Kingdom, offers a variety of investments, including certificates of deposit, taxable and non-taxable bonds, stocks and mutual funds.
As the leading provider of cancer care in the region, the Siteman Cancer Center has more than 300 Washington University researchers and physicians dedicated to developing ways to prevent, detect and treat cancer. The Center provides a multidisciplinary team approach to cancer care.
Last year, Washington University physicians affiliated with Siteman treated nearly 6,000 new cancer patients and provided follow-up care for more than 28,000 patients at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and at the Center for Advanced Medicine, which houses much of the Siteman Center’s out-patient services.
The Siteman Cancer Center also is an active and collaborative part of the School of Medicine’s clinical and basic research enterprise. For example, findings from Washington University’s Genome Sequencing Center are being used to study acute leukemia, a form of cancer that affects 10,000 Americans each year. Results and technology from this research may serve as a template for investigations of other forms of cancer.
The full-time and volunteer faculty of Washington University School of Medicine are the physicians and surgeons of Barnes-Jewish and St. Louis Children’s hospitals. The School of Medicine is one of the leading medical research, teaching and patient care institutions in the nation, currently ranked second in the nation by U.S. News & World Report. Through its affiliations with Barnes-Jewish and St. Louis Children’s hospitals, the School of Medicine is linked to BJC HealthCare.