Houston-based The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center marked its 75th anniversary last week with a weeklong celebration from Nov. 7 to Nov. 14.
During its sold-out gala Nov. 10, which raised more than $13.5 million, Vice President Joe Biden delivered remarks and the creation of the Beau Biden Chair for Brain Cancer Research was announced. The new research chair was named in memory of the vice president's son, Beau, who passed away in 2015 after a battle with brain cancer. He received treatment at MD Anderson in 2013.
MD Anderson was established in 1941 as Texas' first cancer hospital. Since then, the hospital has treated more than 1.1 million patients. In 2016, it was ranked as the nation's No. 1 hospital for cancer care by U.S. News & World Report.
"As we celebrate the outstanding work of our colleagues over the past 75 years, we also look to the future with enthusiasm during this golden era of cancer research," said MD Anderson President Ronald A. DePinho, MD. "Now, more than ever, we have the opportunity to confine cancer to history for the generations to come."
To celebrate its more than seven decades of clinical care and research efforts, the cancer center planned an array of festivities to recognize patients and survivors, donors, volunteers, employees and faculty members. The schedule of activities included an employee recognition event, a cancer survivorship conference, the Boot Walk to End Cancer, commemorated by a 75th anniversary boot ornament designed by MD Anderson's Children's Art Project, a faculty convocation, an employee service awards banquet and a gala dinner underwritten by Camden, N.J.-based Cooper University Health Care.
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