History
Funding for construction of the initial $70-million facility came primarily from the state of Florida's cigarette tax, while the momentum to create the center came from a cadre of legislators, physicians, educators and business leaders who envisioned a new dimension of cancer care and research in Florida.
In 1978, H. Lee Moffitt, a Florida State Representative, recognized the need for a comprehensive cancer center within the state. With the help of the University of South Florida College of Medicine Dean Andor Szentivanyi, Moffitt sought community support and convinced the State Legislature to fund the facility. During the center's planning phase, consultants associated with NCI-designated Cancer Centers were retained to ensure that the finished facility would be as technologically advanced and as efficiently designed as possible.
Groundbreaking ceremonies took place in January 1983. The center was incorporated in the spring of 1984 and was named for H. Lee Moffitt, then Speaker of the State House of Representatives. The building was dedicated in October 1986 and admitted its first patients that same month.
In 1990, the acquisition of the Research Center building across from the Cancer Center enhanced the recruitment of scientists, clinicians and support staff and expanded Moffitt's vision beyond the original structure. The Moffitt Research Center became the focal point for basic and translational cancer research with the overriding goal to produce discoveries that could be translated quickly from the bench to the patient's bedside. The Florida Legislature allocated $12 million for renovation and equipment for this 100,000-square-foot (9,300 m2) structure, and the Moffitt Research Center became fully operational in 1995. In 1999, 48,000 square feet (4,500 m2) of basic research lab space was added to the Moffitt Research Center at a cost of $11 million to house the growing need for additional scientists.
Read more about this topic: H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute
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