Edsons generosity helps make innovation possible

Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center gratefully acknowledges Orin and Charlene Edson and the J. Orin Edson Foundation for its generous support since 1986.

The Edsons recently became major contributors to the Hartwell Innovation Fund. They pledged $1.75 million dollars to help support the Fund, which allows the Hutchinson Center to rapidly respond to novel - and sometimes unexpected - research opportunities that can lead to significant medical breakthroughs. The Fund is earmarked for activities so innovative that they do not qualify for standard institutional funding and must be hand-selected by the Hutchinson Center director. Thus, the Fund truly acts as a catalyst for innovation.

The J. Orin Edson Foundation also made gifts totaling over $1.1 million, which are being used to conduct clinical trials in immunotherapy. The Hutchinson Center's Immunotherapy Initiative is focused on developing lifesaving new treatments based on the immune system's innate ability to fight cancer. Their help is a critical source of funding that can be used to forge new research directions or to translate laboratory discoveries into clinical applications. The Edsons help play a significant role in assuring that the Hutchinson Center remains at the forefront of this exciting area of research in Immunotherapy.

The generosity of individuals, like the Edsons, is critical for advancing innovative work.

The Edsons have a long history of generous support to the Center. In 1992, they made a gift of more than $1 million to support the construction of the Center's Day Campus buildings. In recognition the Center named the Jenifer Pelton Auditorium in memory of one of Mr. Edson's close friends who died of cancer. The Center has also acknowledged the couple's generosity by naming the green space adjacent to the research buildings in their honor; it is now called Edson Park.

The Power of the Immune System

Grand Opening of Edson Park

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