Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center

The Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, also known as Fred Hutch or The Hutch, is a cancer research institute established in 1972 in Seattle, Washington.[2][3]

Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
Formation1975 (1975)
TypeNonprofit organization
HeadquartersSeattle, Washington, U.S.
LeaderD. Gary Gilliland, M.D., Ph.D.
Budget
$435.51 million (2014)[1]
Websitefredhutch.org
The center's South Lake Union campus as seen from the Space Needle

History

The center grew out of the Pacific Northwest Research Foundation, founded in 1956 by Dr. William B. Hutchinson (1909–1997). The Foundation was dedicated to the study of heart surgery, cancer, and diseases of the endocrine system. Hutchinson's younger brother Fred (1919–1964), was a major league pitcher and manager who died of lung cancer at age 45. The next year, Dr. Hutchinson established the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center as a division of the Pacific Northwest Research Foundation.[2]

In 1972, with the help of Senator Warren G. Magnuson, PNRF received federal funding under the National Cancer Act of 1971 to create in Seattle one of the 15 new NCI-designated Cancer Centers aimed at conducting basic research[4] called for under 1971 Act; the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center became independent 1972 and its building opened three years later in 1975.[2][5][6][7][8]:3,5

The center was named an NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center in 1976.[9]

In 1998, the center formed the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance (SCCA), a separate nonprofit corporation,[10] with UW Medicine, and Seattle Children's. This solidified the center's reach into clinical care and was essential for it retaining its NCI comprehensive center designation;[11] the designation was extended to the center's consortium including the SCCA in 2003.[9] SCCA's outpatient clinic first opened in January 2001.[11]

In 2001, The Seattle Times published a series of articles alleging that investigators at the center (including the Center's co-founder Dr. E. Donnall Thomas) were conducting unethical clinical studies on cancer patients. The paper alleged that in two cancer studies conducted in the 1980s and early 1990s, patients were not informed about all the risks of the study, nor about the study doctors' financial interest in study outcome. The paper also alleged that this financial interest may have contributed to the doctors' failure to halt the studies despite evidence that patients were dying sooner and more frequently than expected.[12] In response, the center formed a panel of independent experts to review its existing research practices, leading to adoption of "one of the nation's toughest conflict-of-interest rules."[13]

In 2014, the center announced that D. Gary Gilliland would become president and CEO in 2015;[14] he took over from Lawrence Corey who was appointed as the 4th President in 2010, following the retirement of Lee Hartwell.[15]

2014 also saw the organization adopt its longtime local nickname, "Fred Hutch," as its official name as part of a rebranding.[16]

Notable faculty

The center has employed three recipients of the Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine:

  • Linda Buck, Ph.D., who received the award in 2004 for solving many details of the olfactory system;[17] and
  • E. Donnall Thomas, M.D., who received the award in 1990 for his pioneering work in bone-marrow transplantation and who died in 2012;[18][19] and
  • Lee Hartwell, Ph.D., who received the honor in 2001 for his discoveries regarding the mechanisms that control cell division.[20] After retiring from leading the center in 2010, Hartwell left to join Arizona State University.[21]

Commercialization

The center is active in technology transfer. In 2013, it was one of the top ten biomedical research institutions in the field (excluding universities); it made 18 new deals with companies to develop inventions made at the center, and earned $10,684,882 in income from past deals it had signed.[22] Most notably, Juno Therapeutics, a company developing CAR-T immunotherapy for cancer and that raised $314 million in venture capital investments and had a $265 million initial public offering in 2014, was started based on inventions made at the center.[23] As of 2015, about twenty companies had been started based on center inventions since 1975, including Immunex and Icos.[23]

Campus

The institute's main campus consists of thirteen buildings on fifteen acres (6.1 ha) in the South Lake Union neighborhood of Seattle.[24]

In 1987, the center began exploring possible new homes to replace its 9-building campus on First Hill that it was set to outgrow.[25][26] A site in the South Lake Union neighborhood, envisioned by the city as a future high-tech and biotechnology hub,[27] was chosen in September 1988 after a deal to move to Fremont fell through earlier that year.[28][29] The first phase of the campus, designed by firm Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Partnership,[30] began construction in 1991 and opened on June 1, 1993 in a ceremony that included the burying of a time capsule set to open in 2093.[31][32]

The campus is accessible via the Mercer Street exit of Interstate 5 as well as several public transportation routes, including the South Lake Union Streetcar.[33]

References
  1. "Financial Summary 2014". Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. 2014. Retrieved June 27, 2015.
  2. "Mission Statement". Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. Retrieved August 6, 2009.
  3. Simone JV. Understanding cancer centers. J Clin Oncol. 2002 Dec 1;20(23):4503-7. PMID 12454105
  4. "Center dedication Friday". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). Associated Press. September 2, 1975. p. 6.
  5. Jane Sanders for the University of Washington Libraries. 1987 Essay: A Legacy of Public Service
  6. Melissa Allison for the Seattle Times. October 20, 2012 Obituary: E. Donnall Thomas, Nobel winner for bone-marrow transplant advances
  7. US Government Accounting Office. March 17, 1976. Comprehensive Cancer Centers: Their Locations and Role
  8. NCI Fred Hutchinson/University of Washington Cancer Consortium Page access June 27, 2015
  9. Washington State Hospital Association Hospital Details: Seattle Cancer Care Alliance Page accessed June 27, 2015
  10. BusinessWire October 24, 2012 Fitch Affirms Seattle Cancer Care Alliance (WA) Rev Bonds at A+; Outlook Stable
  11. "Uninformed Consent". The Seattle Times. 2001.
  12. Doughton, Sandi (August 4, 2009). "Hutch leader Lee Hartwell guided center's ride to top, will retire next June". The Seattle Times.
  13. Seattle Times Staff. November 20, 2014 Genetics expert named director, president of Fred Hutch
  14. "Lawrence Corey, infectious disease expert, new Hutchinson Center President". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. July 29, 2010. Retrieved July 4, 2011.
  15. Vit, Armin (November 12, 2014). "New Name, Logo, and Identity for Fred Hutch by Hornall Anderson".
  16. "Medicine 2004". nobelprize.org. Retrieved March 29, 2009.
  17. Frederick R. Appelbaum. Perspective: E. Donnall Thomas (1920–2012) Science 338(6111):1163, November 30, 2012
  18. "Medicine 1990". nobelprize.org. Retrieved March 29, 2009.
  19. "Medicine 2001". nobelprize.org. Retrieved March 29, 2009.
  20. Luke Timmerman for Xconomy. September 20, 2010 Lee Hartwell, at 70, Tackles Personalized Medicine, Education in Latest Career Phase
  21. Brady Huggett. Top US universities and institutes for life sciences in 2013 Nature Biotechnology 32(11):1085
  22. Annie Zak for the Puget Sound Business Journal, February 13, 2015 Fred Hutch and its amazing spinoff machine
  23. "Our Sustainable Campus". Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. Retrieved December 17, 2015.
  24. Balter, Joni (September 27, 1987). "Growing Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center may move". The Seattle Times. p. A1. Retrieved December 17, 2015 – via NewsBank.
  25. Levy, Nat (December 17, 2015). "Why and how the Hutch moved to SLU". Seattle Daily Journal of Commerce. Retrieved December 17, 2015.
  26. Lilly, Dick (June 20, 1993). "Firms Moving Quicker than Commons Plan". The Seattle Times. p. B1. Retrieved December 17, 2015 – via NewsBank.
  27. Angelos, Constantine (September 30, 1988). "Hutchinson Center approves new site - Board OK's plan to buy Lake Union". The Seattle Times. p. A1. Retrieved December 17, 2015 – via NewsBank.
  28. Nogaki, Sylvia (June 25, 1988). "Hutchinson Division's move canceled - Grants make N. end site too small". The Seattle Times. p. A10. Retrieved December 17, 2015 – via NewsBank.
  29. King, Marsha (July 28, 1991). "In This Space At This Time -- ZGF's Organic Style Gives Birth To Buildings That Fit". The Seattle Times. Retrieved December 17, 2015.
  30. Woodward, Kristen (February 2015). "40 things you didn't know about Fred Hutch". Hutch Magazine. Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. Retrieved December 17, 2015.
  31. "Hutchinson Dedicates a New Lab Building". The Seattle Times. June 2, 1993. p. B2.
  32. Campus Buildings & Destinations (PDF) (Map). Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. Retrieved December 17, 2015.
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