photo by: Richard Gwin

Kansas University Cancer Center director Roy Jensen speaks during a National Cancer Institute announcement at the KU Medical Center's Robert E. Hemenway Life Sciences Innovation Center on Thursday, July 12, 2012.

The Hall Family Foundation is donating $8 million to help Kansas University Cancer Center pursue the highest cancer center designation currently available, KU Endowment announced Wednesday.

Becoming a National Cancer Institute (NCI) Comprehensive Cancer Center — the highest recognition for an academic cancer center — is KU Cancer Center’s next major designation goal, after achieving NCI designation four years ago. The center will apply in September.

photo by: Richard Gwin

Kansas University Cancer Center director Roy Jensen speaks during a National Cancer Institute announcement at the KU Medical Center's Robert E. Hemenway Life Sciences Innovation Center on Thursday, July 12, 2012.

“The cancer center will face a rigorous evaluation process after our application is submitted in September,” center director Roy Jensen said in a news release. “This gift ensures that the KU Cancer Center will be ready.”

According to KU Endowment, the Hall Family Foundation gift will provide:

• $4 million to support recruitment of a director of medical oncology at the KU Cancer Center. Recruiting top physician scientists to the team is a high institutional priority.

• A $2 million matching gift for the recruitment of a researcher specializing in hematological malignancies and immunotherapy, in concert with Children’s Mercy Hospital.

• $2 million in support of the Institute for Advancing Medical Innovation, which aims to discover and develop pharmaceuticals and diagnostics with a clear path to market.

Nationwide, there are 69 NCI-designated cancer centers, most affiliated with university medical centers, according to the National Cancer Institute. Of those, 45 have obtained Comprehensive Cancer Center status.

KU’s NCI designation quest has spanned decades.

photo by: Richard Gwin

The Richard and Annette Bloch Cancer Care Pavilion in Westwood is part of Kansas University's Cancer Center.

KU first applied in 1974, and was denied. Work began anew in the early 2000s, with former KU Chancellor Robert Hemenway making NCI designation the university’s top research priority in 2005.

Achieving NCI designation in 2012 meant Kansas and area cancer patients would have close-to-home access to treatments and clinical trials only available at NCI-designated centers, and the federally funded research would be a boon to the state and local economy, leaders said at the time.

The Comprehensive Cancer Center designation will open doors to further expand research funding, related economic benefits and cancer care, according to KU Endowment.

“The KU Cancer Center provides local patients the assurance they are receiving the most advanced cancer treatments and availability to clinical trials,” Bill Hall, president of the Hall Family Foundation, said in the news release. “We are pleased to join with so many others who have supported the KU Cancer Center and particularly the voters who approved the Research Triangle Tax.”

The Johnson County Education and Research Triangle tax (JCERT), passed by voters there in 2008, helped fund the KU Clinical Research Center in Fairway, according to the Johnson County Education Research Triangle website. It brings in about $15 million a year for higher education initiatives and related degree offerings in the county.

The $8 million gift counts toward KU Endowment’s current fundraising campaign, Far Above: The Campaign for Kansas.