Quick Facts About St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital
- St Jude was founded by the late entertainer Danny Thomas in 1962.
- Since then it has treated more than 20,000 young American cancer patients.
- It is located in Memphis, Tenn. and is the largest childhood cancer research center in America
- It is the first institution established for the sole purpose of conducting basic and clinical research into catastrophic childhood diseases, mainly cancer.
- All research done at St. Jude is shared freely with doctors and scientists around the world.
- Currently, St. Jude has 5,700 patients in active status, from all walks of life, regardless of race, religion, creed, or ability to pay.
- The hospital’s daily operating costs are roughly $1.7 million which are primarily covered by public contributions.
- Since its inception in 1962, St. Jude has increased childhood cancer survival rates from under 20% to 80% over all.
- To treat a child with standard-risk acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) requires a 2 1/2-year protocol. The first year of treatment costs about $500,000.
- It was also the first facility other than the National Institute of Health to receive federal approval for research involving human gene therapy. The hospital has more open cell and gene therapy protocols than any other single institution in the world.
Why St. Judes Hospital?
During the past five years, 81 cents of every dollar received has supported the research and treatment at St. jude Children's Research Hospital.
It costs $1.7 million a day to operate St. Jude, and public donations provide more than 75% of funding.
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital is located in Memphis, Tennessee. The mission of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital is to advance cures, and means of prevention, for pediatric catastrophic diseases through research and treatment. Consistent with the vision of our founder Danny Thomas, no child is denied treatment based on race, religion or a family's ability to pay.
St. Jude is a local cause. Not only does the Springfield St. Johns have a St. Jude wing, but children and doctors all over the world benefit from the research and treatment programs at St. Jude. St. Jude is the largest childhood cancer research center in the world in terms of the number of patients enrolled and successfully treated.