Briefly

Medical center secures $15 million match for research into pancreatic cancer

By: Paul Hammel - July 31, 2023 4:02 pm

The Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. (Kent Sievers/UNMC)

LINCOLN — Private funds have been raised to match a state allocation of $15 million to bolster research into pancreatic cancer at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.

Among the leading donors of the $15 million private match for UNMC’s Pancreatic Cancer Center of Excellence were two prominent Omaha families who lost loved ones to the deadly cancer.

Jim Young, who was president, chairman and CEO of Union Pacific, died at age 61 in 2014 after a two-year battle with pancreatic cancer. Young’s family foundation donated, as did members of the Noddle family. Harlan Noddle, a developer and community leader, died in 2005 from the cancer at the age of 69.

“Our goal is a cure for pancreatic cancer, and this support sets us strongly on that path,” said Dr. Jeffrey Gold, the chancellor of UNMC, in a press release.

Volunteers needed

More volunteers are needed for a testing program at UNMC to detect early signs of pancreatic cancer, which is now often diagnosed too late for effective treatment.

The pancreatic study could handle up to 1,250 participants, but now has about 688 volunteers regularly providing samples.

Volunteers who have a family history of the disease are among those sought for the study.

For more information, call 402-559-1577 or email [email protected]

Last year, the Nebraska Legislature agreed to allocate $15 million of the state’s $1.04 billion in American Rescue Plan Act funds to the Med Center’s program, if private donors could match that amount.

The private donations, raised through the University of Nebraska Foundation, will help UNMC build its research program, recruit world-class physicians and scientists, and pioneer novel approaches into the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of pancreas cancer.

Then-State Sen. Mark Kolterman, who lost his wife, Suzanne, to pancreatic cancer in 2017, introduced the legislation for the matching state funds.

“Nebraska is going to be on the cutting edge of a cure or an early detection method,” Kolterman said. “We have the best of the best on our team.”

The Buffett Cancer Center was recognized earlier this year by the National Pancreas Foundation for both outstanding clinical care and scientific innovation.

Our stories may be republished online or in print under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. We ask that you edit only for style or to shorten, provide proper attribution and link to our website. AP and Getty images may not be republished. Please see our republishing guidelines for use of any other photos and graphics.

Paul Hammel

Senior Contributor Paul Hammel covered the Nebraska state government and the state for decades. Previously with the Omaha World-Herald, Lincoln Journal Star and Omaha Sun, he is a member of the Omaha Press Club's Hall of Fame. He grows hops, brews homemade beer, plays bass guitar and basically loves traveling and writing about the state. A native of Ralston, Nebraska, he is vice president of the John G. Neihardt Foundation. Hammel retired in April but continues to contribute to the Nebraska Examiner.