With a Christmas tree already decorated in its lobby, The Hormel Institute-University of Minnesota-Mayo Clinic is getting ready for its first year of participating in Austin’s “Christmas in the City” festivities.

An open house from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 27, will give people a chance to learn about The Hormel Institute’s long history and world-renowned cancer research as well as tour its state-of-the-art facility, which was renovated and expanded two years ago under a nearly $24 million project.

That two-year project, which included about $1.6 million in contributions from Austin citizens, tripled the research facility’s size and doubled its faculty and staff.

People can come at any time during the open house. Each tour will last about 30 minutes.

The Hormel Institute is a world-renowned medical research center, specializing in research into natural compounds that might prevent, control or cure cancer. Its group of highly successful medical scientists is focused on determining the basic molecular mechanisms of cancer development to use their findings for developing new anti-cancer agents.

Its publishing record remains one of the top in the world, with work by Hormel Institute scientists being featured twice since June 2009 on the cover of the top U.S. cancer research journal, Cancer Research.

In 2010, The Hormel Institute’s executive director Dr. Zigang Dong and associate director Dr. Ann Bode were notified that their research in the world’s top cancer journal, Nature Reviews Cancer (Oxford, England), was the most cited paper in the field of Molecular Biology and Genetics from 2004 to 2009 (according to Thomson Reuters).