St. Jude Children's Research Hospital

The mission of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital is to advance cures, and means of prevention, for pediatric catastrophic diseases through research and treatment. Consistent with the vision of our founder Danny Thomas, no child is denied treatment based on race, religion or a family's ability to pay.

When late entertainer Danny Thomas opened the doors to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in 1962, he was not just changing the lives of children who would walk through its doors-he was changing lives across the world.

When St. Jude completed its $1 billion, five-year expansion in 2005, it bolstered the hospital's efforts to find cures for the catastrophic diseases of childhood. The growth more than doubled the size of the hospital's original campus. The expansion included the Children's GMP, LLC-the nation's only pediatric research center on-site facility for production of highly specialized treatments and vaccines, an expanded Department of Immunology and more.

Now with the addition of the Chili's Care Center, a larger, rejuvenated Kay Kafe cafeteria for employees and patients, and renovations to the medicine room and rehabilitation areas, the hospital is more poised than ever to advance cures, and means of prevention, for pediatric catastrophic diseases through research and treatment.

Our vision is to be the world leader in advancing the treatment and prevention of catastrophic diseases in children. This vision will be pursued by providing outstanding patient care; by conducting basic, translational and clinical research designed to elucidate biological mechanisms, understand disease pathogenesis, improve diagnosis, enhance treatment outcome, prevent diseases and minimize adverse consequences of treatment; and by educating health care and scientific research professionals.

Through these efforts we seek to cure and enhance the quality of life for an increasing proportion of children who come to us for treatment, and by expanding and sharing knowledge, to advance treatment of children with catastrophic diseases worldwide, while developing strategies to prevent catastrophic diseases in children.