The Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center just brought home some big federal bucks. The Seattle-based nonprofit research center said today it has been awarded a multi-year, $55.4 million contract from the National Cancer Institute to be the only site of its kind that operates a cancer information service for the public.
This contract will nearly triple the size of the Hutch’s Cancer Information Service Contract Center, and add about 60 new jobs, the center said in a statement. Their job will be to run a free telephone and Internet resource for members of the public who want personalized information about cancer prevention, screening, and treatment. There used to be as many as 26 of these centers scattered around the country, which have been sponsored by the National Cancer Institute since 1975. But as of March 15, it will all be consolidated at the Hutch.
“We are the voice of the National Cancer Institute,” said Dawn Sittauer, Seattle CIS contact center manager, in a statement.
The new contract is the latest in a string of windfalls for the Hutch. Just before Thanksgiving, the center received a $10 million pledge from the parents of Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos, to support research and development of treatments that stimulate the immune system to fight cancer. Back in October, the center also pulled in $40 million in federal stimulus grants for a number of research projects, including tests to measure cancer related proteins, cord blood transplantation, and cancer economics. Tomorrow, the center is also holding the Hutch Holiday Gala, one of its biggest annual community fundraisers.
