Dana-Farber gets $16.5m donation for research

Jack Blais was plowing his driveway in Framingham yesterday when officials at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute announced that he had donated $16.5 million for cancer research -- the largest gift from an individual in the history of the institute.

In an interview after he finished clearing the snow, Blais said he hopes it will help advance cancer research.

''We have to understand proteins," the 67-year-old businessman said. ''That's what I call the nuts and bolts of the body."

Blais is a hands-on guy. He dropped out of Northeastern University in his teens to run his family's greenhouse business, but went on to find groundbreaking applications for infrared and optic technology.

He owns at least 10 companies, is on the Dana-Farber board, and donates much of his time to understanding -- and funding -- cancer research technology, he said.

Prior to yesterday's gift, Blais had donated $13.5 million to the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute since 2000. Earlier this year, he contributed more than $15 million to purchase naming rights on the New England Patriots' indoor practice facility at Gillette Stadium, but he chose to name it the Dana-Farber Field House instead. And in 2001, he donated $21 million to the University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester -- at the time the largest donation in the university's history.

Yesterday's gift will fund the Blais Proteomics Center at the institute and pay for 18 protein researchers, 12 ''mass spectrometers" that analyze data about proteins, and computer hardware.

Barrett Rollins, chief science officer at Dana-Farber, said Blais visits the research labs at the institute about once a month to talk with doctors and researchers about their work.

''We need to do something faster and better, and this is something Jack understands," Rollins said. ''He's developed an interest and he's also developed a close emotional loyalty to the institution."

He said he first developed optical technology used by the military and later started Natick-based NetOptix, selling broadband products commercially.

He developed an interest in cancer research about 15 years ago when one of his favorite uncles was diagnosed with cancer of the tongue. Dana-Farber doctors treated the cancer and prevented it from coming back.

Blais lives with his wife, Shelley, in Framingham and Fort Myers, Fla. He is working on an autobiographical book called ''Keep Swinging."

''I've always looked into the real guts of a problem," he said. ''I know this will make a difference."

Megan Woolhouse can be reached at woolhouse@globe.com.