In 1966 the Directors of the Eldee Foundation, founded by Lady Henrietta Davis and represented by the late Messrs. Louis M. Bloomfield, Q.C. and Bernard M. Bloomfield, initiated discussions with the Jewish General Hospital (JGH) concerning the establishment of a medical research institute. The Directors of the JGH Foundation, conscious of the increasing complexities of the health problems facing our society, recognized the need to accelerate the pace of medical research in the continuing struggle against disease. They therefore proposed to provide the necessary funds for the construction and establishment of the Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research of the Jewish General Hospital, as a modern fully-equipped facility which would make it possible for the JGH to undertake a major expansion of its medical research program. The Board of Directors of the hospital, realizing the significance of such an institute to the development and status of the hospital, enthusiastically accepted the proposal.

On April 16, 1968, the ground breaking ceremony for the Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research (LDI) took place. Over a period of approximately 20 years, the LDI, under the direction of Dr. Norman Kalant occupied an increasingly important niche among major Medical Research Institutes in Quebec and Canada. In 1991 Dr. Samuel O. Freedman, former Dean of Medicine and former Vice-Principal (Academic) of McGill University became Director of Research at the LDI and the JGH. On his retirement from this position in 2000, Dr. Mark A. Wainberg, a world renowned AIDS investigator, was appointed as the present Director.

The first major expansion of the Lady Davis Institute was completed in January 1992 with the addition of four new floors and laboratories. The expanded Institute was officially opened in May 1992 by the Honorable Marc-Yvan Côté, in the presence of Principal David L. Johnston of McGill University, Mrs. Neri Bloomfield, President of the LDI Board of Directors, and many other dignitaries from the hospital, the community and government.

In the year 2006, an additional two floors of laboratories were added in the adjacent Pavilion E to accommodate the basic science laboratories of the Segal Comprehensive Cancer Center. These new laboratories are linked by a bridge to the existing LDI building, adding an additional 40,000 square feet of research space. The expanded research and clinical facilities of the Segal Center were opened in August 2006 by the Honorable Dr. Philippe Couillard, Quebec Minister of Health. At present, the total research space consists of approximately 165,000 square feet of laboratory and clinical research facilities in the Lady Davis Institute, the Segal Cancer Center, the JGH Institute for Community Family Psychiatry, and the JGH Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Community Studies.

   Segal Comprehensive Cancer Centre Program

The LDI is an integral part of the Sir Mortimer B. Davis-Jewish General Hospital and, as such has strong academic links with McGill University. Every basic science and clinical investigator has a university appointment. In addition to approximately 100 principal investigators, there are about 175 post-graduate students and post-doctoral fellows each year who receive their research training at the LDI, as well as 100 administrative and support staff.

Over the years, the LDI has been remarkably successful in attracting outstanding investigators who enjoy national and international reputations. Special areas of interest include Cancer Therapeutics, Molecular Oncology, Cell and Gene Therapy, AIDS/HIV, Aging, Hypertension and Cardiovascular Disease, Clinical Epidemiology, and Psychosocial Aspects of Disease. At present the LDI is one of the most productive hospital based Research Institute in Canada and Quebec in terms of peer-reviewed Grant funding per square feet.