University Times

Hockey legend and cancer survivor Mario Lemieux announced last month a $5 million gift from the Mario Lemieux Foundation to UPMC Health System to create and establish the multi-disciplinary Mario Lemieux Centers for Patient Care and Research.

The new centers are expected to benefit the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, Magee-Womens Hospital and the McGowan Center for Artificial Organ Development.

"We call this gift to UPMC, 'Centers Without Walls'," said Tom Grealish, executive director of the Mario Lemieux Foundation. "Mario's wish is to lend his name to targeted centers where the real impact of the foundation's gift will be felt. In the simplest terms, this underscores the foundation's commitment to science and research."

"We have selected UPMC Health System as the recipient of the foundation's largest grant," said Lemieux, "because UPMC shares my foundation's commitment to cutting-edge research and patient care."

The $5 million gift to establish the Lemieux centers reflects the foundation's charter to support significant medical research projects in western Pennsylvania.

The gift is the culmination of the partnership between the health system and the Lemieux Foundation that began after Lemieux's 1993 successful battle against Hodgkin's disease.