Our History

August 29, 1952 ­ The Minneapolis Medical Research Foundation is incorporated by Dr. Daniel J. Moos, Archie D. Walker, Sr., Dr. Steven A. Walker, and Dr. Arthur A. Zierold as the Minneapolis General Hospital Foundation.

December 24, 1957 ­ Dr. Thomas Lowry receives a tentative commitment for $100,000 from Mr. John B. Hawley, Jr., of the Northern Pump Company, as matching funds for a research building grant.

April 1958 ­ Ground breaking for the MMRF's first research building.

1960 ­ A group led by Dr. Claude Hitchcock begins studying atherosclerosis and organ transplants (kidney and lungs).

February 6, 1963 ­ Dr. Claude Hitchcock performs the first kidney transplant in the midwest.

April 1963 ­ The MMRF begins the first chronic hemodialysis program in the state of Minnesota.

1963 ­ The hyperbaric chamber is constructed. The hyperbaric chamber is an oxygen environment usually three times normal pressure and four times the normal oxygen concentration used for the treatment of wounds, gangrene, carbon monoxide poisoning, nitrogen poisoning, and vascular disorders. The chamber is still in use today and has the capacity for treating a large number of patients.

March 17, 1970 ­ The world's first bilateral lung transplant is performed at Hennepin County Medical Center.

1984 ­ Hennepin Faculty Associates (HFA), the physicians' group for HCMC, is formed and a commitment to research is asserted formally in the HFA Articles of Incorporation. HFA continues to generously support the research at MMRF.

November 18, 1988 ­ 26,000 sq. ft. of newly renovated laboratory space is dedicated as the Claude R. Hitchcock Laboratories.

May 1989 ­ MMRF is reorganized with a new Board of Directors.

May 1991 ­ 1,000th kidney transplant is performed at HCMC.

January 1994 ­ 10,000 sq. ft. of additional research space is opened to meet expanding research needs.

September 1994 ­ MMRF is one of two research centers chosen by the Office of Alternative Medicine of the National Institutes of Health to investigate the use of nontraditional medical practices and document their effectiveness. MMRF's Center for Addiction and Alternative Medicine Research (CAAMR) is opened to investigate the use of complementary and alternative medicine in the treatment of substance abuse.

1996 ­ MMRF streamlines its governance and expands its Board of Directors to include community members.

1996­ Hennepin County Commissioners vote to include MMRF in their annual giving campaign.

1997 ­ MMRF secures record grant funding of $10.6 million

1997 ­ $1 million professorship established at Berman Center for Outcomes and Clinical Research.

1998 ­ New $1.2 million surgical labs open expanding the capability to conduct basic research.

1998 ­ Board of Directors continues expanded presence of community leaders, appointing Myron Frans, tax attorney at Gray, Plant, Mooty, Mooty & Bennett; Don Fraser, former Mayor of Minneapolis; Robert Paymar, Chairman and Cofounder of Dougherty Summit Securities; Frank Sims, President of the Cargill North American Grain Division; and Jana Stender, President of Stender Communications. The MMRF holds its first annual fundraising gala, "Moonstruck ’98." The event raises $65,000 for sleep disorders research and education.

1999 - The MMRF holds its second annual fundraiser, "The Golden Hour Gala." Event revenue and attendance doubles from the previous year. The event benefits the MMRF Trauma/Burn fund.

1999 - The MMRF secures record grant and contract funding. Included in this successful year were: a five-year, $6.8 million award to MMRF’s Nephrology Analytical Services to serve as the Coordinating Center and the Cardiovascular Disease Special Studies center for the United State Renal Data System (USRDS); a nine-year, $12.6 million contract to MMRF’s Berman Center for Outcomes and Clinical Research to help design and perform a historic study that will attempt to determine the best treatment for prevention of heart disease in persons with Type 2 diabetes; and a five-year, $4.8 million award to MMRF’s Center for Addiction and Alternative Medicine Research (CAAMR) to continue and expand its study of complementary and alternative medicine in the treatment of substance abuse.