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THREE TIMES $10 MILLION The Cancer Institute of New Jersey (CINJ), the Child Health Institute of New Jersey (CHINJ) and the Cardiovascular Institute of New Jersey (CVINJ), on the New Brunswick campus of UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School (RWJMS), have each been awarded a $10 million grant from The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, according to an announcement from the Foundation of UMDNJ. "We are honored that The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has made this commitment to our organization and will do our best to live up to their expectations of our work," said Roger Fine, chairman of the UMDNJ Foundation Board of Trustees. The gifts will benefit three critical health areas: cancer, child health and heart disease. Established in 1990, CINJ is the state's only National Cancer Institute-designated clinical cancer center and UMDNJ's first statewide Center of Excellence. The 75,000 square foot building, constructed in 1996, was designed to handle 16,000 patient visits annually but that number has grown to 40,000. This grant will help pay for a 143,000 square-foot expansion of the existing building. When completed in 2003, CHINJ will be the only New Jersey research facility dedicated to identifying the cause and prevention of childhood diseases such as cancer, asthma, autism, cystic fibrosis, heart defects, juvenile diabetes, muscular dystrophy and sickle cell anemia. The $10 million grant has been earmarked for a 145,000 square-foot facility to house more than 40 laboratories focused on the prevention, treatment and cure of genetically based diseases. CVINJ's investigators have been instrumental in developing more than 100 drugs and heart devices. These funds, destined to expand research and teaching opportunities, will establish an endowment to support cardiovascular specialists and investigators whose work will attract National Institutes of Health grants. Harold L. Paz, MD, dean of RWJMS, said, "The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's support demonstrates the highest level of confidence in our past and present accomplishments. More important, it casts a huge vote of confidence in our future."
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