How it happened
Rich Kinder, chairman of the Kinder Foundation, a nonprofit organization in the Greater Houston region that focuses on providing grants for transformational community projects, announced the philanthropic gift during an early May event hosted at the Museum of Fine Arts.
“Our philanthropic efforts center on supporting transformational projects in Houston, and this initiative exemplifies that mission in every way,” Kinder said in the release. “It is a rare and powerful moment when two leading organizations come together to create something entirely new–something capable of reshaping the future of pediatric cancer care.”
The $150 million gift from the Kinder Foundation will serve as the lead funding source for a multiyear campaign to secure funds for the new facility, named the Kinder Children’s Cancer Center, and for breakthrough pediatric oncology research and patient care, per the release.
Zooming in
Located on the 6700 block of Main Street in the Texas Medical Center, the new Kinder Children’s Cancer Center will include inpatient beds, ambulatory care and research labs.
The center will also focus on generating more cures for cancer by accelerating drug development and clinical trial programs to address unmet needs for children. According to the release, the collaboration is anticipated to offer more trials for children with cancer than any other institution, helping speed the pace of progress.
“Our state-of-the-art facility will expand access for children in need of the most advanced care, accelerate clinical research, education and training, and ultimately create a comprehensive program equipped to lead the global fight against childhood cancer,” Debra Sukin, president and CEO of Texas Children’s, said in the release. “At Texas Children’s, our team is committed to solving the unsolvable every day, and thanks to Kinder Foundation and our collaboration with MD Anderson, we have the support to do so for many generations to come.”
Taking a step back
Texas Children’s and MD Anderson first announced their partnership in early February, although details on what the collaboration would include at the time were unclear. The two entities stated that the new collaboration was designed to:
- Expand care access for patients
- Combine pediatric subspecialty care and children’s cancer services to children under one program
- Grow pediatric cancer clinical trials
- Utilize more than 200 Texas Children’s pediatric oncology specialists from Baylor College of Medicine and over 100 MD Anderson pediatric clinicians and researchers
- Provide pediatric oncology education programs to train additional pediatric oncology health care professionals
Stay tuned
The release states that the project is anticipated to “launch” in early 2026. However, it is unclear if the facility is intended to break ground or open in that timeframe. Community Impact reached out to MD Anderson and Texas Children’s officials for clarification, but there was no response as of press time.
Additional project plans include connecting the new center to the Texas Children’s Hospital via a sky bridge.
“Kinder Children’s Cancer Center will become a global destination for comprehensive childhood cancer care and survivorship, transforming how children and their families experience diagnosis, treatment and survivorship,” said Peter Pisters, president of UT MD Anderson. “We know families will find comfort and hope in knowing that these two leading health care organizations are joining forces to focus exclusively on children’s cancers.”
At the center’s launch, pediatric oncology patient care will be consolidated at Texas Children’s Hospital, while Radiation Oncology will remain at UT MD Anderson, and adolescent and young adult programs will be provided at both institutions.
