1986 -

Cancer program at the University of Utah earns National Cancer Institute designation as a Cancer Center, with an emphasis on genetics research as a way to understand, diagnose, and treat cancer.

1993 -

Jon M. and Karen Huntsman donate $10 million to the University of Utah to establish a cancer institute.

1994 -

HCI receives custodianship of the Utah Population Database (UPDB), a resource for biomedical researchers that contains health and vital statistics records from several generations of Utah families.

HCI establishes the High Risk Breast Cancer Clinic to conduct research into genetic causes of breast cancer.

1995 -

The Huntsman family pledges $151 million, $100 million from family funds, to construct a state-of-the-art cancer center.

1996 -

HCI breaks ground for a new 231,118 square foot research, treatment, and education facility.

1997 -

HCI joins the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN), a not-for-profit alliance of the world’s leading cancer centers dedicated to improving the quality and effectiveness of care provided to patients with cancer.

HCI establishes the Familial Colon Cancer Clinic to conduct research into genetic causes and inheritance patterns of colon cancer.

1999 -

HCI building is dedicated; Patient Care Center opens.

2000 -

Jon M. Huntsman pledges $125 million to fund ongoing cancer research and construct the Huntsman Cancer Hospital.

2001 -

HCI establishes Special Populations Outreach to further HCI’s outreach efforts to minority populations.

United States Vice President Richard Cheney attends new hospital groundbreaking.

HCI establishes the Familial Melanoma Research Clinic to conduct research into genetic causes and inheritance patterns of skin cancer.

2002 -

HCI establishes the Sarcoma Array Research Consortium (SARC) to develop a molecular classification for sarcoma tumors.

HCI establishes the Familial Pancreatic Cancer Registry to discover a genetic cause of pancreatic cancer.

2003 -

National Cancer Institute awards $12.5 million grant to HCI to identify colon cancer genes.

HCI establishes the only comprehensive facial prosthetics service in the Intermountain West to aid patients with the replacement of missing features due to injury, cancer treatment, or birth defect.

2004 -

Huntsman Cancer Hospital dedicated. Total construction cost of the hospital: $100 million.

2005 -

HCI and Intermountain Healthcare join forces to create the Huntsman-Intermountain Cancer Care Program, opening research opportunities to advance cancer care.

Thirtieth anniversary of the Utah Population Database celebrated; HCI hosts a symposium attended by world-renown leaders in human genetics.

HCI establishes Director’s Translational Research Initiative, an annual funding program promoting collaborative scientific interaction within HCI and the University of Utah.

2006 -

HCI announces affiliation with Sletten Cancer Institute and McLaughlin Research Institute in Great Falls, Montana, to improve health care for residents through access to specialized cancer research, diagnosis, and treatment.

HCI develops Cancer Clinical Research Database, a computer-based tool that streamlines the process of collecting, maintaining, and accessing cancer information.

HCI selected by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to conduct $3.9 million project focused on improving cancer care among minority Medicare beneficiaries.

2007 -

Mario Capecchi, PhD, distinguished professor of human genetics and biology at the University of Utah's Eccles Institute of Human Genetics and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator, wins the 2007 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine. Capecchi is a member of the Cancer Center Support Grant (CCSG) Nuclear Control of Cell Growth and Differentiation Program at HCI.

HCI opens the Utah Blood and Marrow Transplant and Myeloma Program, combining clinical research with patient care. Patients from all over the world are being treated at the clinic, which offers a unique and promising approach to the treatment of multiple myeloma.

For the first time, an HCI-originated clinical trial goes statewide through the auspices of the Huntsman-Intermountain Cancer Care Program. Results of the trial could provide a new way to predict the most effective cancer drugs for patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and identify a patient’s response early in treatment.

HCI opens the Linda B. and Robert B. Wiggins Wellness Center, one of the first in the nation dedicated to survivorship issues. The program offers various services to complement medical care such as nutrition counseling, acupuncture, individual exercise evaluation, instruction and fitness classes, outdoor programs, yoga, guided imagery instruction, a sexual health clinic, and support groups.

2008 -

HCI acquires cutting-edge genetic research tool called the Illumina Genome Analyzer. The breakthrough device helps researchers find specific genes related to cancer quickly and inexpensively.

HCI announces major hospital expansion. The expansion will double inpatient capacity from 50 beds to 100, and will double existing imaging and radiation treatment facilities and operating rooms.

HCI and Intermountain Healthcare Cancer Services announce the achievement of a main objective of the three-year-old research alliance: the linkage of records found in the Utah Population Database (UPDB) to medical records from Intermountain. The linkage should yield data that can be used for studies relating to genetics, health services, and public health.

2009 -

HCI researchers develop the Breast Bioclassifier, a test that helps physicians determine the best possible treatment for individual breast cancer patients. Scientists narrowed down 50 genes that play an important role in identifying subtypes of breast cancer. By measuring the expression level of these genes in the tumors, they can determine how each individual will respond to standard therapies.

The University of Utah announces the Jon and Karen Huntsman Presidential Professorships in Cancer Research to commemorate the 10th anniversary of Huntsman Cancer Institute. The five professorships honor individual scientists for their outstanding scholarship and contributions to HCI’s mission, vision, and values.

HCI announces a major new training initiative for cancer research. The National Cancer Institute licensed HCI and the University of Utah Department of Biomedical Informatics as a cancer Biomedical Informatics Grid (caBIG®) support service provider. This ambitious effort provides a way for cancer researchers, clinicians, and patients to share information across the globe through computer-based technology.