The Hormel Institute will host the first of three summer open houses this Saturday for anyone interested in touring the newly constructed east addition of 20 laboratories and the Ray Live Learning Center.

Free tours will take place from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. starting in The Hormel Institute, University of Minnesota’s main lobby; registration is not required. Attendees can park along 16th Avenue Northeast in front of The Hormel Institute or the parking lots on the east or west side of The Hormel Institute, and enter through its main lobby on the west side.

“The community generously supported The Hormel Institute’s recent expansion, and this open house is an opportunity to see how that support is enhancing cancer research in Austin,” Executive Director Dr. Zigang Dong said. “Our work is for each of you, and community support is vital for ensuring progress continues in the fight against cancer.”

Attendees will be guided through The Hormel Institute, with stops featuring the new Ray Live Learning Center (a 250-seat lecture hall with theater-style seating and a multi-function room), the “Ray of Hope” sculpture, a new $4.3 million cryo-electron microscope, and patient-doctor rooms that will allow The Hormel Institute to begin conducting clinic trials.

Summer open houses will also take place on Friday, July 29 from 12-3 p.m. and Saturday, July 30 from 10 a.m.-1 p.m.