Goodman gift to bolster cancer research at McGill
Donation represents latest boost for new Life Sciences Complex
McGill University is pleased to announce that its Cancer Centre has been renamed the Rosalind and Morris Goodman Cancer Centre, thanks to a major gift from the philanthropic couple. The Rosalind and Morris Goodman Cancer Centre represents a fusion between the McGill Cancer Centre and the Molecular Oncology Group of the McGill University Health Centre, Royal Victoria Hospital Pavillion, and is an integral part of the new Life Sciences Complex.
The Morris and Rosalind Goodman Family Foundation’s generosity will support a Chair to attract a leading scholar who will make significant contributions to the study of cancer, with emphasis on pulmonary cancer. In addition, this generous donation will help train young researchers to lead tomorrow’s cancer breakthroughs.
“Without basic discoveries, we would not be in business,” said Mr. Goodman, a pioneer of the generic drug industry whose Montreal-based company, Pharmascience Inc., celebrates its 25th anniversary this year. “We are grateful to be able to invest in the efforts of McGill’s cancer investigators whose groundbreaking work will undoubtedly advance clinical treatments.”
“On behalf of the Faculty of Medicine, I applaud visionaries like the Goodmans, whose strong beliefs, passion and forward thinking will enable McGill to pioneer new frontiers in medicine,” said Richard I. Levin, Vice-Principal (Health Affairs) and Dean of the Faculty of Medicine. “Thanks to their support, the Life Sciences Complex has become a reality, heralding this new era that will improve knowledge of health and disease for the people in our communities, here in Quebec and around the world.”
The gift is the second major private contribution that helps make the Life Sciences Complex a world-leading hub of medical and scientific research. The first was a $10-million donation from Dr. Francesco Bellini, which led to the Francesco Bellini Life Sciences Building, one of the four buildings that make up the new complex.
"What really made me decide to make my gift to McGill is when they told me that scientists from different faculties and departments would all work together in the same space, under the same roof,” said Dr. Bellini, whose Montreal-based company BioChem Pharma catapulted Canadian biopharmaceutical research to global prominence with the development and commercialization of 3TC, the first anti-HIV compound. “It’s very important to me as a scientist. One of the big challenges is getting different groups to communicate and that is the key factor here. Scientists and researchers will share, and things will advance faster than they normally would.”
“Because of the support from people like the Bellinis, we now have the means to power whole new avenues of research, new treatments and new opportunities for the biomedical and pharmaceutical sector,” said Martin Grant, Dean of the Faculty of Science. “Most of all, we have the potential to deliver good news to people for decades to come.”