The Medical College of Wisconsin has announced a $27 million gift from Wisconsin business operator Tim Michels and wife Barbara toward its cancer research center.
The gift is personal to the couple, whose daughter Sophie was diagnosed as a child with a rare brain cancer called choroid plexus carcinoma. In the nearly 15 years since, she has undergone surgeries, rounds of chemotherapy and cancer recurrences. She is now healthy, Tim Michels said, but her journey continues.
Early on, the couple had difficulty finding information on their daughter’s cancer and were met with few treatment options, the Michels said.
“We’re investing in the Medical College of Wisconsin because we believe in their extraordinary scientists and physicians to turn today’s breakthrough cancer discoveries into tomorrow’s cures,” they said in a June 22 news release.
“There’s no reason we can’t do that right here in Milwaukee,” Tim Michels said in a follow-up interview.
Tim Michels, who unsuccessfully ran against Gov. Tony Evers in 2022, and his wife have made previous donations to cancer research, inspired by their daughter’s journey.
The family gave $3 million to fund an endowed professorship in pediatric neurological surgery at Weill Cornell Medicine, in New York.
They also pledged in 2022 to give $15 million to the Medical College for cancer research. The latest gift is an extension of that commitment. The Michels plan to give the full $27 million over the next seven years, on top of whatever amount they already gave as part of the original 2022 pledge, Tim Michels said.
The gift will help the Medical College train new scientists and bring in top talent, said Gustavo Leone, director of its cancer center. The money also will be used to expand access to early cancer detection and prevention.
Cancer is a major research focus for the Medical College, which opened a new building last summer to centralize its cancer labs and equipment and make room for expansion. The research center, located on the Medical College’s main campus in Wauwatosa, now houses more than 300 scientists and staff.
It will be named the Michels Center for Cancer Discovery, in light of their gift.
“Cancer is one of the toughest health challenges we face,” Medical College President and Chief Executive Officer John R. Raymond Sr. said in the release. “The Michels’ transformational investment ensures groundbreaking cancer discoveries can move quickly from our scientists’ labs to a patient’s bedside.”
Rare cancers affect fewer than 15 out of 100,000 people each year, according to the National Cancer Institute. These cancers typically don’t attract massive funding to study causes or prevention strategies.
While individually they may not affect great numbers, taken together they comprise around 25% of all new cancer diagnoses in the United States, according to the Medical College.
Tim Michels is a co-owner of Michels Corp., a family-owned construction business.
Reporter Sarah Volpenhein can be reached at svolpenhei@gannett.com or 414-607-2159.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Michels family gives $27 million to Medical College of Wisconsin
Reporting by Sarah Volpenhein, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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By Sarah Volpenhein, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel | USA TODAY Network
