City of Hope’s story begins when a poor young tailor, alone and in pain, collapses and dies from tuberculosis on a Los Angeles sidewalk. Saddened by the tragedy and spurred by compassion to help others in need, volunteers establish the Jewish Consumptive Relief Association and raise funds to build a free hospital dedicated to the care and comfort of those afflicted with the life-threatening disease. Ten acres are purchased in Duarte, Calif. Called the Los Angeles Sanatorium, it begins with two tents, one for patients and the other for a nurse.
City of Hope’s reputation for compassionate care attracts the support of tens of thousands of philanthropists from around the country, including many of Hollywood’s biggest names such as Al Jolson and Warner Bros. Studios. Tents become a campus of buildings. Three patients become hundreds. One nurse becomes a team of doctors and caregivers.
With tuberculosis now controlled by new drugs and vaccines, Samuel Golter, the executive director of the sanatorium, proposes a bold plan to transform the place into a full medical, research and education center.
In 1949, the name City of Hope is formally adopted to reflect the institution’s broader scope and ambitions.
A new way to treat epilepsy is made possible by researcher, Eugene Roberts, Ph.D., who discovers the first major inhibitory neurotransmitter (gamma-aminobutyric acid, or GABA), reshaping the understanding of how the brain processes, stores and recalls information.
City of Hope revolutionizes pediatric patient care nationwide by establishing the Parent Participation Program, which allows mothers and fathers to take an active role in their children’s treatment.
Clinicians at City of Hope develop a low-cost cobalt chemotherapy that makes lifesaving radiation more affordable for patients everywhere.
In 1957, the organization’s focus on compassionate care reaches new heights with the opening of Hope Village, which provides on-site housing for patients and their families traveling from across the nation.
A City of Hope scientist launches a new field of research on gene regulation with the discovery that the inert Barr body, a unique chromosome found only in females, is an inactivated X chromosome.
A City of Hope clinician is the first to treat a metabolic disorder, Gaucher's disease, with enzyme replacement therapy.
The field of neurogenetics is initiated when a City of Hope scientist observes, then isolates, the Shaker gene and other behavioral mutants in the fruit fly, Drosophila.
City of Hope scientist Susumo Ohno, Ph.D., publishes Evolution by Gene Duplication, a seminal book that furthers the world’s understanding of evolutionary processes and is the basis today for significant biological research.
In 1971, City of Hope’s Alfred G. Knudson, M.D., Ph.D., lays the foundation for modern theories of tumor development with the publication of the "two hit" hypothesis for the origin of cancer. The premise postulates that two mutations are required to ensure the formation of a cancer.
City of Hope is one of six medical centers nationwide to perform bone marrow transplantation.
Recombinant DNA techniques patented at City of Hope lead to the development of synthetic insulin, Humulin, the first biotechnology product approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and now used by millions of people living with diabetes worldwide.
Human growth hormone (HGH) is synthesized using recombinant DNA techniques discovered at City of Hope. HGH enables thousands of undersized children suffering from severe growth abnormalities to reach near-normal height.
In 1981, the National Cancer Institute designates City of Hope a "Clinical Cancer Research Center" and awards the first in a series of major grants to our Bone Marrow Transplantation Program.
City of Hope secures its place as a renowned research center in 1983, when a $10 million grant awarded by Dr. Arnold and Mabel Beckman establishes City of Hope's Beckman Research Institute – the first of these prestigious institutes.
Scientists at City of Hope, led by Arthur Riggs, Ph.D., and Shmuel Cabilly, Ph.D., discover that antibodies can be made using monoclonal antibody technology, a breakthrough that leads to one of the dominant patents in the field for "smart" cancer drugs, including some of the most promising and widely prescribed drugs in use today, Herceptin, Rituxan and Avastin.
An innovative high-dose chemotherapy and peripheral blood stem cell transfusion program is initiated to treat women with high-risk primary breast cancer.
In 1989, a City of Hope scientist develops the "multitumor tissue block." This single-slide research technique holds 100 specimen samples on a single slide, allowing researchers to simultaneously test numerous tissue samples, organize multiple automated analyses and shorten the time it takes to test new antibodies.
