MEMPHIS – St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is investing $11.5 billion over six years in a project that includes expanded cancer-focused research and construction of an outpatient clinic and a new patient family housing facility.
The nonprofit hospital said the expansion is the largest in its nearly 60-year history. Most of the plan would be funded by donors, the hospital said.
“The plan is ambitious, and its goals are far-reaching,” said James R. Downing, M.D., the president and CEO at St. Jude. “We’re committing substantial resources to broaden scientific understanding, raise survival rates, improve quality of life, and connect researchers worldwide in the quest to find cures and save children with cancer and other deadly diseases.”
Under the plan announced this week, St. Jude will hire nearly 70 new faculty members, plus supporting laboratory staff, to work in basic, translational and clinical research across 22 departments. St. Jude said if fully funded, the expansion will add 1,400 more jobs at the Memphis campus.
The expansion builds on a previous six-year, $7 billion project that resulted in an increase in new cancer patients and faculty, and a new advanced research center.