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Broad Institute to Launch New Cancer Research Center

NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) — The Broad Institute announced today that it has received $25 million commitments to establish a research center focused on developing liquid biopsy and other diagnostic technologies for cancer.

The new Gerstner Center for Cancer Diagnostics will be funded with $15 million from Broad Chairman and former IBM CEO Louis Gerstner, as well as $10 million from the Eli & Edythe Broad Foundation. It will build on previous research into the mechanisms of cancer drug resistance that was launched in 2015 with $10 million from the Gerstner Family Foundation.

According to Broad, the Gerstner Center will focus on liquid biopsy technologies for tracking treatment response and for monitoring patients with minimal residual disease, and work on new approaches to cancer diagnosis.

"There is a transformation underway in the field of cancer diagnostics," Broad President and Founding Director Eric Lander said in a statement. "With [Gerstner's] visionary partnership, we can move closer toward making blood biopsy and other diagnostic technologies for tracking disease progression a powerful new standard-of-care for patients."

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