Browns Owners Dee, Jimmy Haslam Donate $12.5M Toward Cancer Research, Drug Development

Cleveland Browns owners Dee and Jimmy Haslam have donated $12.5 million to fund research and drug development regarding blood cancers.

The donation is in part focused on chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), a rare blood cancer with which Dee Haslam was diagnosed five years ago, according to a Wednesday press release.

"I am extremely grateful that I am living a full, healthy life after being diagnosed with CLL in 2021," Dee Haslam said in a statement.

Haslam continued, "Together with UH Seidman Cancer Center and the Oxford-Harrington Centre, we hope to increase knowledge of CLL, generate new treatments and give others the confidence and information they need to navigate the disease. Ideally, cures for other blood disorders will be discovered in the process."

The Haslam's donations are going toward a partnership between rare disease research centers in Ohio and England.

$10 million is going toward research and drug development focused on CLL "and related blood cancers" at the Oxford-Harrington Rare Disease Centre.

The rare disease center "is dedicated to creating breakthrough medicines for rare conditions with limited or no existing therapies," according to the press release.

The additional $2.5 million will go to the University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Center, where it will fund an endowed CLL research chair and "an innovation fund to drive advancements in care."

The Haslams previously donated $20 million to University Hospitals to help the organization open a new sports medicine center in 2023. Dee Haslam has also served as a co-chair for UH fundraising efforts.

The Browns were sold in 2012 to the Haslams, who are also majority owners of the NBA's Milwaukee Bucks, NWSL's Columbus and MLS' Columbus Crew.