Byrne Family Cancer Research Institute at Dartmouth Cancer Center tops $50 million goal

Dartmouth and Dartmouth Health today announced the successful achievement of a five-year, $50 million campaign to fund the Byrne Family Cancer Research Institute at Dartmouth Cancer Center and advance the Cancer Center's groundbreaking research and patient care. 

Launched publicly in early 2022 with a $25 million lead gift, the Byrne Family Cancer Research Institute represents a future-focused approach to biomedical research and discovery. It operates under the umbrella of Dartmouth Cancer Center, which, for the past 35 years, has held the prestigious and competitive accolade of a National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated comprehensive cancer center.

It is the most rural NCI-designated comprehensive cancer center in America, the only such center in northern New England, and one of just three in all of New England. 

Since the initial lead gift from longtime supporter Dorothy Byrne, the institute has garnered more than $25 million in additional support from community leaders, philanthropists, and Dartmouth alumni and families. Funds raised for the institute have gone to support the creation or expansion of dozens of programs and initiatives dedicated to recruiting and retaining researchers and physician-scientists, as well as enhancing student scholarship and training programs ($13.84 million); developing new tools and technologies to fuel cancer research ($6.28 million); expanding best-in-class clinical trials ($4.38 million) and accelerating innovative therapeutics to market ($2.78 million).

"The advances made possible by the Byrne Family Cancer Research Institute in just four short years benefit our region and have made the Dartmouth Cancer Center even more essential," said Dartmouth President Sian L. Beilock, PhD. "We are grateful to these supporters who share our commitment to research focused on the distinctive needs of rural communities."

"Our collective vision for the institute was to improve the lives of cancer patients, both locally through the care that Dartmouth Cancer Center provides, and globally through new knowledge that we create for the world," said Steven M. Leach, MD, former Dartmouth Cancer Center director and interim dean of the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth. "Importantly, the Byrne Family Cancer Research Institute was created to inspire and attract philanthropy for cancer research, which we've seen play out with enormous success."

To date, the institute has received more than 105 gifts from families and foundations from across northern New England. These included leadership gifts from Barbara and Dick Couch '64, Thayer '65, to support the recruitment and retention of cancer clinician-scientists from underrepresented groups in medicine, and from Eileen and James Savarese '88 to support innovation, brain cancer research, and an endowed professorship. 

In addition to philanthropy, large-scale research grants have also funneled into the institute. In total, Dartmouth Cancer Center received nearly $110 million in research grants since 2022. These include substantial grants from organizations such as the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute to advance colon cancer diagnostics ($32.7 million) and the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health to fund new imaging techniques for prostate cancer surgery ($31.3 million), underscoring the power of philanthropy to subsequently drive additional funding—thereby setting up high-caliber teams throughout the Byrne Research Institute for long-term, sustained success.

"Since the Byrne Family Cancer Research Institute first launched, we've overseen a seven-fold increase in the number of patients who are benefiting from expanded enrollment in a Cancer Center clinical trial," said Konstantin Dragnev, MD, interim director of Dartmouth Cancer Center. "Cancer patients who participate in clinical trials have better outcomes than those who do not, so resources provided by the institute are allowing us to bring potentially life-saving clinical trials to more patients in northern New England, while helping to fuel new knowledge more broadly."

The Byrne Family Cancer Research Institute has advanced programs in three key strategic areas that are each helping bring Dartmouth discoveries to patients. These include:

●    A dedicated immunotherapy research program, which earlier this year received an influx of $1 million to advance the most promising immunotherapy studies and bring more life-changing discoveries to patients
●    A precision prevention initiative that has already uncovered new links between PFAS "forever chemical" levels in the region and incidence of kidney cancer
●    A cancer innovation accelerator program that to date has supported five cohorts in the creation of 10 start-ups, six licenses, and more than $17 million in follow-on funding, all in service of shepherding promising cancer advances to market

"Without the risks that we're taking today, without having more investigator-initiated clinical trials, and without an advanced research core, none of this would be possible," said Parth S. Shah, MD, director of genome informatics at Dartmouth Cancer Center. "That's where the institute has become so critical for us."

The Byrne institute has also strengthened connections across the entire Dartmouth ecosystem. It has enjoined the renowned teaching and research efforts at Geisel with Dartmouth's School of Arts and Sciences, Tuck School of Business, Thayer School of Engineering, and Guarini School of Graduate and Advanced Studies, with innovative centers such as the Magnuson Center for Entrepreneurship and The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice, as well as the diagnostic, therapeutic, and patient care initiatives that are the hallmark of Dartmouth Health.

"The Byrne Family Cancer Research Institute was designed to embody this 'One Dartmouth' approach," said Leach. "This means we could use funds raised nimbly and strategically where they would have the most impact for the Cancer Center—from new investments in clinical trials and faculty recruitment to early-stage investigations seeking to uncover the building blocks of cancer."

The outcomes of this approach have reverberated across the entire Dartmouth and Dartmouth Health landscape. Since launch, the institute has been a steadfast priority for both institutions at the highest levels. This not only contributed to the eschewing of traditional siloes that tend to grow between academic research and patient services, but was also directly responsible for ensuring that Dartmouth Cancer Center remains a national leader. The institute's launch, and subsequent years of increasing support, was a key factor in the NCI's determination to renew its designation of Dartmouth Cancer Center as a comprehensive cancer center. 

Dorothy Byrne has been a longtime supporter of cancer research and patient care. The Jack & Dorothy Byrne Foundation over the years has included annual matching dollars to increase funds raised at The Prouty, Dartmouth Cancer Center's largest annual community fundraiser. And a gift from Dorothy Byrne in 2014 created the Jack Byrne Center for Palliative & Hospice Care on the campus of Dartmouth Health’s Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center.

"In just a few short years, the Byrne Family Cancer Research Institute has united scientists, clinicians, and learners in the pursuit of breakthroughs that improve care and outcomes for patients in northern New England," said Joanne M. Conroy, MD, president and CEO of Dartmouth Health. "Thanks to its steadfast supporters, we are continuing this important work—directing funds to where they will have the most impact, advancing bold ideas and outside-the-box thinking—so that the Institute will help us deliver on our promise to patients and bring hope to families in our community and beyond."