A $2.5 million grant from the Kuni Foundation fully funded an endowed chair for Prostate Cancer Research at Oregon Health & Science University, enabling the lab to branch out into new directions and study high-risk, new ideas. The first recipient of the endowed chair, Dr. Joshi Alumkal, previously received two grants from the Kuni Foundation and was also a Kuni Scholar.
Supporting Dr. Alumkal as he progressed as a leader in the prostate cancer research field underscores the importance of taking a long-term view when investing in people and projects that can advance this important work from research to discovery. Dr. Alumkal compares running his laboratory to managing a business, and the entrepreneurial way he approaches his work makes the Knight Cancer Institute a standout in the research and treatment of prostate cancer.
The Kuni Foundation funding provides a stable line of capital to invest in new, innovative projects that might be too preliminary for traditional funding agencies like the National Institutes of Health. In the current research climate, where only one in ten grants are funded, the support associated with the endowed chair will provide a sustainable source of funding for years to come.
