Kansas University Hospital will contribute $2 million to the KU Cancer Center’s ongoing efforts to achieve National Cancer Institute designation.

KU Hospital, which is a clinical operation, donates funds to the KU Cancer Center each year as part of an affiliation agreement with KU Medical Center, which performs research and educational functions for the university.

The funds included $1 million for building clinical oncology research and related research infrastructure on the KU Hospital and KU Medical Center campus, $500,000 to support the clinical trials research program and $500,000 as a Midwest Cancer Partners Advisory Board membership fee to assist with clinical oncology research.

Bob Page, CEO of KU Hospital, said that while the designation was a research designation, the hospital was happy to contribute funds in support of the effort.

“We’ve been a partner in this since the beginning,” Page said.

Roy Jensen, director of the KU Cancer Center, said the funds would support research into two drugs with potential applications in fighting leukemia. The cancer center is looking at running tests on ciclopirox olamine, an antifungal agent, and auranofin, an anti-arthritis drug.

The funds will also support the bio-specimen shared resource, which collects tissues that can be distributed and made available for researchers at the cancer center.

The KU Hospital Authority Board, in addition to approving the funding Tuesday, also passed a resolution in support of the NCI designation efforts. A site visit team is scheduled to visit the cancer center next month, and the center is expected to hear whether it has been approved for designation later this year.