Accountability & Impact
At Fred Hutch, we bring the same level of commitment and integrity to our patients, donors and investors that we do to our scientific research. We take our responsibility seriously, whether we’re stewarding public funds received through the National Institutes of Health or shepherding private resources. As our impact and reach broaden, our values remain steadfast.
Responsible Research Conduct
Fred Hutch upholds internationally recognized codes of ethics and applicable laws and regulations to ensure the protection and confidentiality of all human participants in biomedical research. These include ethical guidelines for general research practices as well as those that pertain specifically to HIV research.
Institutional Review Board
Conflict of Interest Policies
Research Ethics
Institutional Review Board
Accredited by AAHRPP, this board ensures that our research activities meet ethical standards and comply with all applicable laws and regulations, as well as the Fred Hutch Human Research Protection Program Policy.
Our Impact
At Fred Hutch, we are working toward nothing less than cures. Our researchers work across five divisions — from basic sciences to clinical research — to discover new ways to prevent, detect, and treat cancer and other diseases. At any time, hundreds of clinical trials are underway at Fred Hutch, bringing novel therapies to thousands of patients. More than 1.3 million people around the world have benefited from lifesaving bone marrow transplantation, a treatment pioneered here. Our work also paved the way for the HPV vaccine, which could prevent cancer in millions of people. And the Women’s Health Initiative, headquartered at Fred Hutch, uncovered the risks of combined hormone therapy for postmenopausal women, preventing more than 20,000 cases of breast cancer per year in the U.S. alone.
Our Pledge to Donors
Fred Hutch conducts research of the highest standards and extends those same standards to the stewardship of funds that make our work possible. We ensure that donor funds and in-kind contributions are efficiently and effectively allocated to our mission of eliminating cancer and related diseases as causes of human suffering and death. Your trust is paramount. To each of our donors, we pledge to:
- Honor your intent and allocate all gifts for the purpose for which they were given.
- Acknowledge all gifts in a personal, timely and appropriate manner while honoring your recognition preferences.
- Respect your privacy. Fred Hutch will not sell or share your personal information; we will respect any donor request for anonymity.
- Be open and forthright with our financial statements, both online and by request.
- Uphold the highest ethical standards in research and funding. We comply with all federal and state requirements for 501(c)3 organizations, as well as federal research regulations and policy.
- Maintain open and professional communication with you as a member of the Fred Hutch community. You may opt out of communications, such as mailings and emails, at any time.
- Honor you as a trusted partner who shares our vision, believes in our mission and wants to make an impact on care for patients with cancer and related diseases.
Donor Privacy and Confidentiality Policy
We value our community of donors and are grateful for the trust they place in us when they make a gift. Just as we commit to being transparent and accountable in how we use those gifts, we pledge to protect donor privacy. Fred Hutch maintains the highest level of integrity and respect for the personal and organizational information that we are privileged to acquire from donors and prospective donors, including sponsors, partners and volunteers. Our Donor Privacy and Confidentiality Policy honors the privacy of this information and guides the actions of our employees. It states Fred Hutch’s position on donor confidentiality and anonymity and explains how we obtain, use, protect and share information.
Strong Rating by Independent Charity Evaluator
We’re proud to have a Gold Seal of Transparency on GuideStar, a service that collects and analyzes data about more than 2 million U.S. nonprofits.
Because Fred Hutch receives the majority of its revenue from federal sources, we are not eligible for evaluation by agencies focused on private donations. For example, Charity Navigator will not conduct a formal evaluation because a large proportion of our funding is provided by the National Institutes of Health.
An Unparalleled Track Record of NIH Funding
Fred Hutch is among the top National Cancer Institute–funded academic and research institutions in the U.S. and is ranked first in NIH funding among all U.S. independent research centers. Because competition for federal research grants is intense, and the implementation of complex, multiyear grants requires a great deal of organizational rigor, we take pride in this achievement. We take equal pride in our record of support from private funders, whose investment in early-stage work is critical to securing federal grants.
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
MD Anderson Cancer Center
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
Strong Governance
United in their commitment to eliminating cancer and related diseases, members of our leadership team, board of trustees and board of ambassadors bring scientific and business acumen from diverse industries and perspectives. They oversee the implementation of key policies — such as our Conflict of Interest Policy, Ethical Conduct Policy and Human Research Protection Program Policy — that are relevant to best practices in governance and the ethical conduct of research. They also ensure that the organization upholds our values, stays focused on our mission and delivers on our strategic plan.