Johns Hopkins cancer center gets $10M gift for breast cancer-related programs

May 9 2014

Funds slated to create the Under Armour LiveWell Center

Officials at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center today announced receipt of a $10 million gift from Under Armour Inc. to fund breast cancer and breast health support programs and a women’s wellness center.

The gift is the largest yet made by the Baltimore-based performance and innovation brand to any organization and is in keeping with its focus on physical fitness and healthy lifestyles. The money will be used to construct and outfit the space to house these breast cancer-related programs in the Kimmel Cancer Center’s newest addition to its facilities, the Skip Viragh Outpatient Cancer Building.

The Skip Viragh Building, slated to open in 2017, will serve as the primary entry point for cancer care at Johns Hopkins. It will house the Under Armour LiveWell Center, which will include amenities such as exercise equipment, nutrition and learning center, breast cancer navigation, and survivorship services that will help guide women going through treatment and beyond. The center’s programs will be offered to women worldwide through distance learning, the Internet and social media. They will include up-to-date information about breast cancer research and treatment, as well as fitness and breast cancer prevention.

"Under Armour is deeply honored to partner with Johns Hopkins, a pioneering organization in the advancement of health and innovation," said Under Armour Founder and CEO Kevin Plank. "It is our mission with the Under Armour LiveWell Center to bring the best minds, technologies, and resources in the world together for breast cancer awareness and prevention."

“Patient-centered care is our top priority, and this generous donation from Under Armour gives us the opportunity to provide innovative services in new, state-of-the-art space for thousands of women and their families,” says William G. Nelson, M.D., Ph.D., director of the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center and professor of oncology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

“We are so grateful for this unprecedented gift from Under Armour, which will provide a unique mix of important cancer information and inspired living,” says Paul Rothman, M.D., dean of the medical faculty and CEO of Johns Hopkins Medicine.

“This extraordinary gift from Under Armour will support not only a new comprehensive space dedicated to providing the best possible care, cutting-edge research, and educational opportunities for individuals with breast cancer and those at high risk, but it will also offer extensive exercise, nutritional and lifestyle programing,” says Vered Stearns, M.D., co-director of the John Hopkins Kimmel Center's Breast Cancer Program. “Together, Under Armour and Johns Hopkins promise to make great strides in fighting this disease, improving the lives of individuals with breast cancer and serving as a valuable educational resource for all members of our community."

Breast cancer services at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center are led by Vered Stearns, M.D., David Euhus, M.D., and Sara Sukumar, Ph.D. Stearns is an internationally recognized medical oncologist who specializes in treating women with rare and complex breast tumors and personalized treatment approaches. Euhus is an internationally known surgeon who heads the breast center surgery program, and Sukumar is an internationally known research scientist whose laboratory work focuses on new interventions for breast cancer treatment and prevention.

The gift is part of Rising to the Challenge: The Campaign for Johns Hopkins, an effort to raise $4.5 billion, primarily to support students, research and discovery, and interdisciplinary solutions to some of humanity's most important problems. The campaign, supporting both the university and Johns Hopkins Medicine, began its quiet phase in January 2010, was publicly launched in May 2013 and is targeted for completion in 2017. More than $2.44 billion has been committed so far.