# OHSU Knight Cancer Institute

Source: https://onco.cc/institutions/ohsu-knight/  
OnCo record `ohsu-knight` (Institution). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

Brian Druker's institute, where imatinib was proven in CML and precision oncology was born; now focused on early detection and functional genomics.

## Summary

NCI-designated since 1997, the Knight Cancer Institute is led by Brian Druker, whose clinical development of imatinib for BCR-ABL-positive chronic myeloid leukaemia in the late 1990s established targeted therapy as a paradigm. A $1 billion fundraising campaign completed in 2015 funded the Cancer Early Detection Advanced Research (CEDAR) centre and new research buildings on Portland's South Waterfront. Jeffrey Tyner's functional drug screening created the Beat AML programme, Joe Gray's SMMART trials pursue serial multi-omic profiling of individual patients, and Lisa Coussens leads work on myeloid cells in the tumour microenvironment. Charles Blanke chairs SWOG from OHSU.

## Fields

- Kind: Institution
- Last checked: 2026-09-09
- Also known as: Knight Cancer Institute
- City: Portland, OR, US
- Type: cancer-center
- NCI designation: comprehensive
- Website: https://www.ohsu.edu/knight-cancer-institute

## Sources

- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knight_Cancer_Institute
- Knight Cancer Institute: https://www.ohsu.edu/knight-cancer-institute
- CEDAR: https://www.ohsu.edu/knight-cancer-institute/cedar

## Connected records

- cancers: [Acute myeloid leukaemia](https://onco.cc/cancers/aml/), [Chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML)](https://onco.cc/cancers/cml/)
- fronts: [Early Detection & Screening](https://onco.cc/fronts/early-detection/), [Targeted Therapy](https://onco.cc/fronts/targeted-therapy/)
- technologies: [Functional (ex vivo) drug testing](https://onco.cc/technologies/functional-drug-testing/), [N-of-1 and rapid platform trials](https://onco.cc/technologies/n-of-1-platforms/), [Small-molecule kinase inhibitors](https://onco.cc/technologies/kinase-inhibitors/)
- targets: [BCR::ABL1 (Philadelphia chromosome)](https://onco.cc/targets/bcr-abl/)
- drugs: [Imatinib](https://onco.cc/drugs/imatinib/)
- companies: [Novartis](https://onco.cc/companies/novartis/), [SWOG Cancer Research Network](https://onco.cc/companies/swog/)
- people: [Brian Druker](https://onco.cc/people/brian-druker/), [Charles D. Blanke](https://onco.cc/people/charles-blanke/), [Gert Boyle](https://onco.cc/people/gert-boyle/), [Michael C. Heinrich](https://onco.cc/people/michael-heinrich/), [Phil Knight](https://onco.cc/people/phil-knight/), [Shivaani Kummar](https://onco.cc/people/shivaani-kummar/)
- institutions: [National Cancer Institute (NIH)](https://onco.cc/institutions/nci/)
- roadmaps: [Targeted therapy roadmap: imatinib → designed for resistance → the undruggable drivers fall](https://onco.cc/roadmaps/targeted-therapy-roadmap/)
- trials: [Beat AML Master Trial](https://onco.cc/trials/beat-aml-master-trial/)

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