The Belfer Legacy

In 1999, with generous support from the Arthur and Rochelle Belfer Foundation, the Belfer Center for Cancer Genomics was founded. The center initially focused on developing high-resolution platforms and computational tools for global genomic profiling of patterns of copy number aberrations in human cancers. The center established a robust pipeline for high-throughput genomic analyses of human and mouse tumors, and became one of The Cancer Genome Atlas’ select Cancer Genome Characterization Centers during its Pilot Phase (2006-2009).

In 2004, the Center for Applied Cancer Science at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute was established, designed to bring together the best attributes of academia and industry to rapidly translate cancer genomics knowledge into more effective cancer therapies. In 2006, with a visionary commitment from the Robert A. and Renee E. Belfer Foundation, the Belfer Center for Cancer Genomics and the Center for Applied Cancer Science became the Belfer Institute for Applied Cancer Science.