The mission of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital is to advance cures, and means of prevention, for pediatric cancer and other catastrophic diseases through research and treatment. Specifically we wish to increase the cure rates to over 90% for the major forms of childhood cancer and advance research and treatment of specific childhood diseases such as sickle cell disease. When St. Jude opened its doors in 1962, only 20% of children with cancer survived in the U. S. Today, helped by innovative research at St. Jude, more than 80% survive. Consistent with the vision of our founder Danny Thomas, and thanks to the generosity of our donors, no family ever receives a bill from St. Jude for treatment, travel, housing or food. It will cost approximately $1 billion to operate St. Jude this year. Because more than 75% of those funds come from generous donors, St. Jude has the freedom to focus on what matters most — saving kids regardless of their financial situation.

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital's is highly focused on our mission and providing an environment where great doctors and scientists can do their best work. We are not a typical children's hospital, but instead are a specialty hospital focused on pediatric cancer and life-threatening diseases in children, including sickle cell disease. This strategy has enabled us to become a world leader in our fields of study. We conduct basic, translational and clinical research designed to find cures, improve diagnosis, enhance treatment outcomes, and minimize adverse effects of treatment for these diseases. Approximately 90% of cancer patients treated at St. Jude are enrolled on one or more of our research studies. We serve as a global resource by sharing our knowledge and discoveries with health care and scientific research professionals around the world. Integral to the success of the organization is our ability to raise the necessary funds to support the mission and accelerate progress.

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital is the first and only National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center devolved solely to children. This designation goes to hospitals that are highly advanced in research, treatment and prevention of cancer. The following capabilities help our organization achieve our stated goals. * World-class physicians and researchers. * Highly integrated healthcare teams, providing seamless multi-disciplinary care and research, increasing the speed of discoveries and their translation into new treatments. * Cutting-edge research and clinical care facilities. * An efficient fundraising organization that ensures the operation of St. Jude, which relies primarily on the philanthropic support of loyal donors, volunteers and partners. * A committed Board of Governors and Directors. * Collaborations with scientists and physicians around the world.

When St. Jude opened its doors in 1962, only 20% of children with cancer survived in the U. S. St. Jude has pioneered a significant number of advances that have been pivotal in increasing survival rates to 80% today. Our goal is to push childhood cancer survival rates to over 90%, and we won't stop until no child dies from cancer. Results of our research are published in peer-reviewed journals at a rate of more than 600 publications per year. Published studies represent one metric from the scientific community that our findings represent important discoveries. This is also a key means by which we share our discoveries freely with scientists and doctors around the world so the benefits of these discoveries can be maximized. St. Jude physicians provide over 200 professional consultations a month to other physicians treating children in all 50 states and around the world, and St. Jude sees over 250 patients a day at our hospital in Memphis, Tennessee.

We measure success in the lifetime of moments we give to children whom we successfully treat. St. Jude has played a significant role in the increased survival for children with pediatric cancer and other catastrophic diseases around the world* In 1972, St. Jude achieved a 50% survival rate for patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia through an innovative combination of therapies revolutionizing leukemia treatment worldwide. *St. Jude discovered that bone marrow transplants from unrelated, genetically matched donors are as effective in treating childhood leukemia as those from patients' siblings who are genetically matched. * St. Jude pioneered the elimination of cranial irradiation in treating most leukemia patients, greatly reducing immediate and long-term effects in these patients. Until all children can be cured, we have not achieved our ultimate goal—to find cures to the diseases we treat so that no child will die in the dawn of life.