On Sept. 12, 2013, Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) announced it had received two gifts totaling $25 million for a clinical and translational science initiative that aims to develop new detection and treatment methods for pancreatic cancer while solving longstanding mysteries of pancreatic disease at the molecular level.

The joint gift from Norman and Linda Brenden and the Colson Family Foundation established the Brenden-Colson Center for Pancreatic Health, a “center-without-walls” that works to reduce deaths from pancreatic cancer by, among other things, identifying markers and novel imaging techniques to detect the cancer at a curable stage; developing and advancing promising new drugs through the drug development pipeline; launching the first autologous pancreatic islet cell transplant program in the Pacific Northwest; expanding one of the nation’s largest pancreatic tumor registries; and learning how to improve the care of patients with pancreatitis.