Billionaire Gives Money for Cancer Research

David Koch, the billionaire conservative best known for bankrolling the Tea Party, now has another credit to his name — he recently opened the David H. Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at MIT, which he gave $100 million to help build, reports The New York Times' Michael Cooper. Koch — who has prostate cancer himself — says he routinely gives money for cancer research. "The new institute here is taking an innovative approach by uniting cancer scientists and engineers under one roof," Cooper says. The idea is to combine the discoveries of researchers with the problem-solving skills of engineers to find the best ways to turn the discoveries into viable treatments through innovations like nanotechnology. "In his speech at the opening ceremony, Koch warned that government spending cuts could impede cancer research. And he urged donors to fill the gap," Cooper adds.