Officials from ALSAC and St. Jude join supporters in celebration of the opening of the Kay Research and Care Center. From left, the group includes Terry Burman of the St. Jude Board, Ryan Kunkel of Red Frog Events, U.S. Congressman Steve Cohen, St. Jude President and CEO James Downing, MD, Tryna Kochanek of Kay Jewelers, Rich Unes of the St. Jude Board, David Bouffard of Kay Jewelers, Eric and Lara Trump of The Eric Trump Foundation and Richard Shadyac, President and CEO of ALSAC/St. Jude.
Memphis, Tennessee (February 19, 2015) — Today, St. Jude officially opened the Kay Research and Care Center on the St. Jude campus. The new $198 million center houses the Eric Trump Foundation Surgery and ICU Center, Marlo Thomas Center for Global Education and Collaboration, as well as the St. Jude Red Frog Events Proton Therapy Center, which will open this fall. The new center will help St. Jude usher in a new era of research, education, collaboration, care and treatment for children with cancer and other life-threatening diseases.
“This is a momentous occasion for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, as we open the new Kay Research and Care Center and celebrate the integration of treatment, research, technology, collaboration and education on the St. Jude campus,” said Richard Shadyac Jr., President and CEO of ALSAC/St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. “We are tremendously thankful for the dedicated support of Kay® Jewelers, The Eric Trump Foundation, and the many donors who partner with us as we take this important next step forward in the fight against childhood cancer and other life-threatening diseases.”
The center is named for Kay® Jewelers, a longtime supporter of St. Jude, which recently made a commitment to raise $50 million over 10 years in support of the hospital’s lifesaving work. Kay Jewelers has passionately supported St. Jude since 1999, raising more than $40 million to support the children and families of St. Jude.
“Our partnership with St. Jude is a source of great pride and we are honored to support this incredible institution with the amazing work it does,” said Ed Hrabak, Kay® Jewelers President. “The opening of the Kay Research and Care Center begins an exciting new chapter in our relationship and extends the pioneering treatment and cutting–edge research that benefits children and families around the world. We thank our generous customers and dedicated team members for their support in making this great day possible.”
The building’s state-of-the-art Eric Trump Foundation Surgery and ICU Center was made possible by a generous $20million commitment from The Eric Trump Foundation. The center doubles the hospital’s surgery space, accommodating the latest technologies with the flexibility to adapt to future advances. The operating suites are equipped with recording devices and observation rooms, to help doctors around the world learn from techniques perfected at St. Jude. Eric and Lara Trump were joined by key members of The Eric Trump Foundation for the opening ceremony.
“I’m immensely proud of our incredible pledge to the children of St. Jude. Our donation and this ICU facility will forever change the lives of the most precious segment of our society,” said Eric Trump, Eric Trump Foundation Founder. “We look forward to supporting St. Jude for many years to come.”
The Marlo Thomas Center for Global Education and Collaboration occupies the entire main floor of the Kay Research and Care Center. The center is designed to be a hub of learning and discovery, encouraging collaboration and using the latest in technology to connect doctors and scientists around the world.
An entire floor of the Kay Research and Care Center is devoted to the computational biology department, which will play a key role in the hospital’s research over the coming decades. The growth of the department is crucial for the hospital’s work to analyze the immense amount of data provided by the St. Jude — Washington University Pediatric Cancer Genome Project as well as other St. Jude research efforts to help unlock the secrets of childhood cancer.
The St. Jude Red Frog Events Proton Therapy Center, which was created thanks to a $25 million commitment from Red Frog Events, is the world’s first proton therapy center dedicated solely to the treatment of children. Proton therapy is the most advanced and highly precise form of radiation treatment available today, allowing doctors to administer a higher dose of radiation to a tumor while sparing nearby healthy tissue from radiation exposure.
“St. Jude is a remarkable place of discovery and interaction and a place of compassion and healing,” said James R. Downing, M.D., President and CEO of St. Jude. “The Kay Research and Care Center captures all of these elements under one roof and will be integral to our future as a global innovator in the fight against childhood cancer and other deadly diseases.”
Additional Kay Research and Care Center support of $1 million or more:
The Jerry N. and Virginia S. Williams Estate; InfinityQS International, Inc.; The Brooks Family: Holly, Doug, Taylor and Kyle; Michele and Bill Nuti; The Peter & Mary Russo Family Foundation; Randi and Clifford Lane Foundation, donation made in memory of Dominick M. Amorosi, and Sky High
About St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital:
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is leading the way the world understands, treats and defeats childhood cancer and other life–threatening diseases. St. Jude has the world’s best survival rates for some of the most aggressive childhood cancers, and treatments invented at St. Jude have helped push the overall childhood cancer survival rate from 20 percent to 80 percent since we opened more than 50 years ago. St. Jude is working to drive the overall survival rate for childhood cancer to 90 percent in the next decade. St. Jude freely shares the breakthroughs it makes, and every child saved at St. Jude means doctors and scientists worldwide can use that knowledge to save thousands more children. Families never receive a bill from St. Jude for treatment, travel, housing or food — because all a family should worry about is helping their child live.
About Kay® Jewelers:
Kay® Jewelers, the number one jewelry store in America, is conveniently located in malls and off–mall shopping centers across the country. Kay® Jewelers is operated by Akron, Ohio-based Sterling Jewelers, a Division of Signet Jewelers Limited, the largest specialty retail jeweler in the US, UK and Canada. Signet’s Sterling Jewelers Division operates Kay® Jewelers among its over 1,500 stores in all 50 states and has more than 19,000 employee team members. For additional information on Kay®Jewelers visit their website.
About the Eric Trump Foundation:
Founded in 2006, The Eric Trump Foundation is dedicated to raising money for children battling life–threatening diseases at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. To date, the Foundation has donated and pledged nearly $28 million dollars to St. Jude and grown into one of the largest private charities in the country. Through direct personal involvement and financial assistance, ETF strives to advance the medical and emotional needs of terminally–ill children and demand that our monetary donations are transformed into real results at St. Jude.