Paul G. Allen Research Center at Swedish Cancer Institute

Paul was 29 years young, having already shepherded Microsoft to global success, when he first heard the words lymphoma in a diagnosis based on his September 1982 biopsy – early-stage Hodgkin’s lymphoma, to be exact. It was what he referred to as a wake-up call given at Swedish Medical Center in Seattle where he underwent radiation treatment. Six weeks later, he put his first encounter with cancer in the rearview mirror.

In 2009, Paul faced his next battle, this time with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. While it’s typically a treatable disease, his had already reached stage IV and spread beyond his lymph nodes. Nevertheless, after six rounds of chemotherapy, the cancer was officially diagnosed as being in remission in April of the following year.

Paul’s second encounter with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma would be his last. On October 15, 2018, he died at the age of 65 from complications of the disease while being cared for at the Swedish Cancer Institute. Paul was one of more than 19,000 who succumbed to the disease that year.

No one knew better than he did that this pervasive disease requires individualized assessment and treatment, which are too often constrained by accessibility to care and financial resources. Throughout his life – and through his own lived experience – Paul knew that science, data, and technology were key to saving and improving lives. Upon his death, and true to this belief, Paul made a $20 million personal bequest to the Swedish Cancer Institute. His gift, which was announced in November of 2021, established the Paul G. Allen Research Center at the Swedish Cancer Institute. The Research Center is dedicated to improving the experience of every cancer patient by developing leading advances in cancer prevention, detection, and treatment. It’s also committed to providing an optimal environment for conducting clinical trials and translational research.

While cancer-related death rates have actually declined over the past few decades, the ability to analyze clinical data, advance new research, and apply new treatment methods is imperative in the continued fight against the disease. This new research center Paul enabled builds on Swedish Cancer Institute’s tradition of patient-centered treatment and his own legacy of filling critical data gaps, supporting science, and pushing boundaries to find new ways of tackling issues. This largest-ever donation to Swedish will further transform the field of oncology by integrating advances in biomedical and computer sciences with clinical care.

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Science-Minded
Optimist

Pandemic
Response

Additional
Stories

Pacific Northwest

Seahawks

Paul purchased the Seattle Seahawks NFL franchise in 1997, and since then the team has gone on to make three Super Bowl appearances.

Exploration

Space

Paul pursued making space more accessible in ways that would fuel space innovation — including SpaceShipOne, the Allen Telescope Array, and Stratolaunch, the world's largest airplane by wingspan.

Creativity

MoPOP

The Museum of Pop Culture opened in 2000 and over the years evolved into a hands-on museum experience celebrating all forms of popular culture and creative expression.

Exploration

Great Elephant
Census

The Great Elephant Census was a massive undertaking to survey the remaining savanna elephants across the African continent. Results of this survey shocked the world into action.

Futurist

Microsoft

Paul's name is, of course, synonymous with Microsoft, the company he co-founded with his friend Bill Gates, which changed the trajectory of modern computing.