About Skip Viragh

The Skip Viragh Center for Pancreas Cancer Clinical Research and Patient Care was made possible by an extraordinary gift of $20 million established in memory of Skip Viragh, a Maryland mutual fund leader, and a pancreas cancer patient treated at Johns Hopkins, who died in 2003 at age 62.

Skip Viragh was considered one of the most influential mutual fund investment authorities. He founded Rydex Funds, based in Rockville, Md., and grew the business from a three-person operation to a 200 plus employee enterprise with more than $10 billion in assets under management. His legacy was a consistent commitment to charity throughout his life. He was named posthumously in 2009 as one of America's Top Donors by The Chronicle of Philanthropy.

This gift allows experts at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center the means to speed the transfer of laboratory discoveries into innovative treatments for patients and recruit the best and brightest young investigators. With these funds, physician-scientists from many disciplines across Johns Hopkins will be able to find new ways to prevent, treat, and ultimately cure pancreas cancer. 

It is the largest to date for pancreas research and will ensure that innovations in pancreas cancer research and treatment continue, benefitting patients throughout the world.