Donor Recognition

The Richard K. Lubin Family Foundation has made a generous grant to establish the Lubin Family Foundation Scholar Award at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

The grant will create new awards open to early career physician-scientists in the greater Boston area as they launch their research careers. The Lubin Scholars will receive a four-year financial award of $150,000 per year and work under the tutelage of a Lubin Scholar Mentor to help guide them during this pivotal time in their career. Four Lubin Scholars will be selected annually.

William G. Kaelin Jr., MD, a 2019 Nobel Prize recipient and the Sidney Farber, MD, Professor of Medicine, will serve as the Scientific Director of the Lubin Family Foundation Scholar Award program. Candidates will be invited to apply from Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center institutions, which include Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston Children’s Hospital, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and Massachusetts General Hospital; and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Many studies have shown that physician-scientists leave academic research early in their careers for a number of reasons, including financial limitations and more opportunities in the private sector. Surmounting these formidable barriers to retention in academic research is critical to the future of Dana-Farber’s research enterprise and to the broader community of academic medical centers. The Lubin Family Foundation Scholar Award will create new avenues for early career physician-scientists to reach professional and financial stability within the field of academic research.

The Richard K. Lubin Family Foundation, whose Board consists of Richard and Nancy Lubin, Kate Lubin and Glen Sutton, and Emily and Greg Woods, have been longtime supporters of Dana-Farber.

“We are deeply grateful to the Lubin Family for their continued partnership with Dana-Farber, especially for their generous support of our world-class faculty,” said Laurie H. Glimcher, MD, president and CEO of Dana-Farber and the Richard and Susan Smith Professor of Medicine. “The innovative Lubin Family Foundation Scholar Award sets an inspiring example for how we encourage physician-scientists and early career investigators to continue their promising research—by providing them with crucial mentoring and financial resources at a pivotal stage in their careers. This prestigious award will not only help scientists in the field today, but also create a pipeline and support system for future talent who will someday drive the next major breakthroughs and change the landscape of cancer care as we know it.”

Lubin Scholars will be among the most promising early career investigators who are pursuing cancer-relevant basic or translational laboratory-based research and who have demonstrated potential to become the next generation of leaders in cancer research. The selection of Lubin Scholars will focus primarily on those working in fundamental science because many of today’s most important advances in cancer can trace their origins back to research of the basic principles of biology and chemistry.

“I have tremendous admiration for Dana-Farber and respect for its commitment to training the future leaders who will shape the field of oncology. I am pleased that our foundation has been able to work with the Institute to bring to fruition an award that will help the next generations of scientists succeed in their academic research careers,” said Richard Lubin, who has served on Dana-Farber’s Board of Trustees since 1983.

“I know from experience that mentoring colleagues early in their careers has a positive impact on scientific research. Certainly, mentorship combined with a financial award will be incredibly beneficial to young scientists, and this new award will assure that early career researchers can remain focused on their science and scientific training during their critical transition to independence,” said Kaelin. “I am grateful to the Richard K. Lubin Family Foundation for its vision and commitment in establishing this important and innovative award.”

This grant is another example of the Lubin family’s legacy and support for Dana-Farber’s faculty, including a gift in 2018 to establish the Richard and Nancy Lubin Family Chair at Dana-Farber and the Richard and Nancy Lubin Research Fund.

This commitment also supports The Dana-Farber Campaign, the Institute’s ongoing and ambitious, multi-year $2 billion fundraising effort to prevent, treat, and defy cancer by accelerating revolutionary science, extraordinary care, exceptional expertise, and essential opportunities. Richard Lubin serves on The Dana-Farber Campaign Cabinet.

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Nurses are a critical part of oncology care, helping patients navigate treatment, manage symptoms and side effects of treatment, and facilitate communication among the entire care team. Nurses form close and lasting bonds with patients and families by providing comfort, information, support, and always advocating for their needs. In order to better reflect the full, diverse community of patients served, Dana-Farber is committed to recruiting and training the best nurses from all backgrounds—enhancing the Institute’s ability to provide exceptional, culturally competent patient care. To help achieve this goal, Institute Trustee Phill Gross and his wife, Elizabeth Cochary Gross, PhD, have made a gift of $3.5 million to two nursing programs at Dana-Farber focused on diversifying and strengthening our nursing talent pipeline. Their generous gift supports The Dana-Farber Campaign’s priority to provide extraordinary care and enhances the Institute’s commitment to increasing the diversity of its workforce.

As a member of The Dana-Farber Campaign Cabinet, Phill attended a cabinet meeting that included a presentation by Anne Gross, PhD, RN, NEA-BC, FAAN, senior vice president for Patient Care Services and chief nursing officer (no relation), in which she described several ways that the Institute is actively working to mitigate the shortage of registered nurses and increase the diversity of the oncology nursing staff.

“We wanted to give where our investment could have a clear and immediate impact on the scale and, particularly, the diversity of the nursing pipeline,” said Phill and Liz. “Nurses are the linchpin of cancer care, and Dana-Farber’s plans to grow and diversify the nursing staff will help patients today and for years to come. These programs specifically focus on nursing students from diverse backgrounds, which is a key objective for the Institute.”

Of the Grosses’ gift, $2.5 million supports the Newly Licensed Nurse Residency Program, a one-year program that trains newly licensed nurses from diverse backgrounds to become clinical experts through participation in direct care experiences, classroom learning, professional development, and mentorship activities to develop the knowledge and competencies to care for oncology patients. The Grosses’ contribution will increase the number of participants by five per year for each of the next five years and strengthen the pipeline for the future.

The remaining $1 million will expand the Bridge to Nursing Program, a professional pathway to nursing careers for clinical assistants looking to advance themselves professionally by pursuing a degree in nursing during their employment at Dana-Farber. The program offers mentoring, career development, tutoring, and, as needed, financial assistance. The Grosses’ gift will be specifically directed to clinical assistants from underrepresented groups.

“Oncology nursing is a highly specialized profession,” said Anne Gross. “Growing our pipeline of skilled nurses from all backgrounds is key to maintaining and improving the level of compassionate, personalized, and expert care for all who seek it. I am so grateful to Phill and Liz for their generous investment in our nurses.”

“Over the years, Phill and Liz’s support for Dana-Farber has touched so many aspects of our work—from their investments in basic and translational research, to funding for fellowships, to our emergency response to the pandemic, and now to our acclaimed nursing program,” said Laurie H. Glimcher, MD, Dana-Farber president and CEO and the Richard and Susan Smith Professor of Medicine. “We are truly fortunate for their partnership.”

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Institute Trustee Louise Svanberg has long been interested in oncology, and closely follows the latest advances and innovations in cancer research. A few years ago, this interest took on a new significance when her husband was diagnosed with prostate cancer—which, had they known about it sooner, would have been easier to treat. Then, Svanberg herself was diagnosed with cancer. Now having the dual perspectives of patient and caregiver, she was inspired to take a more active role in supporting cancer research—especially research to advance early detection, a key strategic priority of The Dana-Farber Campaign.

To that end, Svanberg made a $3 million gift to permanently endow the Svanberg Family Chair at Dana-Farber. She was especially interested in increasing awareness for women’s cancers that are not as well-funded or common as other cancers. She met with Laurie H. Glimcher, MD, president and CEO of the Institute and the Richard and Susan Smith Professor of Medicine, and other leaders, to discuss candidates for the chair. “If we can figure out the way to really get early detection working on a broader scale, that could potentially save more people than any treatment,” said Svanberg.

Dipanjan Chowdhury, PhD, who is chief of the Division of Radiation and Genome Stability, as well as co-founder and co-director of the Center for BRCA and Related Genes, was named as the chair’s inaugural incumbent. He and his lab have developed a platform to examine microRNAs in blood for early signs of cancer—specifically for ovarian cancer, for which there is currently no FDA-approved early detection test. They discovered a distinct microRNA pattern associated with a higher risk of the disease, and now they are testing whether this molecular pattern from a blood test can help predict whether a woman with high genetic risk will go on to develop the disease.

“I am extremely honored to serve as the first incumbent of the Svanberg Family Chair,” said Chowdhury. “Early detection is one of our most effective strategies against cancer, and with Louise’s support, we are working toward a future where we are able to treat more cancers at their earliest and most treatable stages and provide renewed hope for patients everywhere.”

As a cancer patient, Svanberg also understands that treatment is only half the story—the emotional aspects of the cancer journey are equally important. “Cancer lives everywhere in our society, and we need to have a better understanding of who it is,” said Svanberg. “We will all be faced with the questions around cancer at some point in our lives. The more we understand and get to know the early signals we can read in ourselves or in others, the better off we will all be. It’s important to get involved in this effort—the giver is the biggest receiver.”

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Sean Fox was a true champion on and off the lacrosse field. Winner of five national titles as a player and coach at Hobart College, Fox learned valuable life lessons from the sport and promoted them as a successful executive and devoted husband and father. Although, sadly, Sean passed away from liposarcoma in August 2021, his son Connor, along with friends Ben Baranker and Tommy Hale, followed his lead in leveraging lacrosse for maximal social impact by raising funds to defy cancer through the Hope Street Foundation.

Recently, the foundation made a gift of more than $1 million to establish The Sean Fox Fund in support of liposarcoma research led by George Demetri, MD, director of the Sarcoma Center, senior vice president for experimental therapeutics, and the Quick Family Chair in Medical Oncology at Dana-Farber. This generous gift was generated through Hope Street’s “Lacrosse for Life” fundraiser on April 2–3, in which players from 43 college programs nationwide had their heads shaved, with the foundation contributing $1,000 per participant.

The Hope Street Foundation’s fundraising success springs from the closeness of the lacrosse community and the leadership of co-founders Baranker, Fox, and Hale, who were classmates and teammates at Brown University. Grounded in their deep personal experience with and commitment to philanthropy, they established the foundation while living together in their college house on Hope Street in Providence, R.I. After reaching out to friends on collegiate lacrosse teams across the country to support their cause, their call to action quickly spread through word of mouth like a ball passed around for the best shot on goal. And like a score on the field, this winning effort may bring closer their hopeful vision of victory against liposarcoma.

In pursuing this mission, Baranker, Fox, and Hale are thrilled to team up with Demetri because he and his colleagues in Dana-Farber’s Sarcoma Center are such dedicated and accomplished leaders in their field. Demetri, in turn, appreciates the foundation’s strong partnership in propelling progress. “Ben, Connor, and Tommy are providing a beacon of hope to patients with liposarcoma through the innovative science they are accelerating, and we are very grateful for the trust and support from this new generation of philanthropists to our mission,” said Demetri.

For the three friends behind the foundation, advancing liposarcoma research and care is as important as sticks are to lacrosse because, given its rarity, liposarcoma receives less funding and attention than other cancers, yet is no less devastating to patients like Sean Fox and families like his. “We are proud to support Dana-Farber’s Sarcoma Center and hope others will continue to join this effort,” said Connor Fox. “Even small strides help to drive significant impact, and with everyone’s help Dr. Demetri and his team can do more than ever to improve the lives of patients and families.”

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The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) has awarded $1,359,000 in career development grants to three Dana-Farber physician-scientists who are working to develop and refine treatments for blood cancers.

The foundation is a global leader in the fight against cancer, with the goal of finding cures for leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease, myeloma, and other blood cancers. For more than four decades, LLS has partnered with Dana-Farber researchers to achieve important breakthroughs in the understanding and treatment of these diseases.

Caron Jacobson, MD, MMSc, received an LLS Scholar in Clinical Research grant to investigate the safety and effectiveness of CAR T-cell therapy for patients with relapsed or refractory primary and secondary central nervous system lymphoma (CNSL), an extremely rare and deadly form of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. CAR T-therapy is a revolutionary cellular therapy that uses specially altered T cells to strengthen the inherent cancer-fighting power of these immune cells.

She and others conducted clinical trials that resulted in recent FDA approval for a different type of CAR T-cell therapy for patients whose large B-cell lymphoma (LBCL) or follicular lymphoma (FL) relapsed or wasn’t responding to standard treatments. The LLS grant will enable Jacobson to test this therapy, called axicabtagene ciloleucel (axi-cell), against central nervous system lymphomas.

“We know that the currently available treatments don’t work in many patients with CNSL, and when they do, the effects are not long-lasting,” said Jacobson, medical director of the Dana-Farber Immune Effector Cell Therapy Program. “We think CAR T-cell therapy may represent the most promising treatment option.”

Andrew Lane, MD, PhD, studies blastic plasmacytoid dendritic cell neoplasm (BPDCN), an aggressive and uncommon blood cancer that has some of the features of leukemia and lymphoma. It also presents with characteristic skin tumors.

“My goal is to figure out what makes BPDCN tick and translate that knowledge to new therapy,” said Lane, director of Dana-Farber’s Blastic Plasmacytoid Dendritic Cell Neoplasm Center. He is using his LLS Scholar grant to investigate how BPDCN cells differ from normal blood cells, learn why the disease affects men more than women, and develop targeted therapies that can improve survival and minimize side effects.

Christopher Reilly, MD, a physician in Dana-Farber’s Hematologic Oncology Program, received an LLS Special Fellow grant to determine the role of telomere maintenance in intestinal regeneration and mortality among patients receiving a stem cell transplant for a blood cancer. A telomere is a region of repetitive DNA sequences at the end of a chromosome that protects the chromosome from becoming frayed or tangled.

“LLS is pleased to be able to support these Dana-Farber physician-scientists who are working relentlessly to achieve better outcomes for patients with blood cancers,” said LLS Chief Scientific Officer Lee Greenberger, PhD. “LLS funds lifesaving blood cancer research around the world, and Dana-Farber’s work is a cornerstone that will lead to better care and help accelerate the discovery of cures.”

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The Prostate Cancer Foundation (PCF) has made $1,725,000 in awards to three Dana-Farber researchers who are working to accelerate precision oncology treatments for men with prostate cancer.

The foundation is the world’s leading philanthropic organization dedicated to funding lifesaving research into prostate cancer, which affects 1 of every 8 adult males. Every year, about 35,000 men in the U.S. die from the disease and another 270,000 are newly diagnosed, according to the American Cancer Society. Since 1993, PCF has raised close to $1 billion to support cutting-edge research to improve the prevention, detection, and treatment of this cancer.

The foundation has awarded Dana-Farber’s Matthew Freedman, MD, its prestigious $1 million Movember-Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride-PCF Challenge Award. This will support ambitious team science that leverages knowledge of epigenetics to identify promising new treatments for metastatic prostate cancer, which has no known cure. Epigenetics is the study of how genes and gene programs are turned ‘on’ and ‘off’ in a cell. These gene programs are driven by proteins called transcription factors (TFs), which are fundamental in governing how a tumor progresses as well as how it responds to treatment.

Freedman and his team have identified a set of TFs that control the progression of prostate disease to a treatment-resistant, metastatic state. Their research is aimed at gaining fundamental insights into how those regulators work and how they might be targeted to prevent the disease from progressing.

“Thanks to this award, we have the potential to greatly expand therapeutic options for those patients who cannot be cured with currently available strategies,” said Freedman, whose coinvestigators include Mark Pomerantz, MD, Sylvan Baca, MD, PhD, and collaborators in the Netherlands.

The Prostate Cancer Foundation is also supporting the work of Himisha Beltran, MD, who is co-directing a new Center of Excellence focused on facilitating best-in-class precision medicine for New England veterans with prostate cancer. The new Blavatnik Family Foundation – PCF Precision Oncology Center of Excellence at Dana-Farber and the Veterans Affairs (VA) Boston Healthcare System, is one of 13 funded by the PCF’s $50 million Veterans Health Initiative to deliver innovative, best-in-class care to veterans with prostate cancer.

Alok Tewari, MD, PhD, received the Advanced Accelerated Applications-PCF Young Investigator Award for his research into the mechanisms that cause high-risk localized prostate cancer to become resistant to intensive androgen therapy.

“We are proud to invest in the work of these gifted Dana-Farber physician-scientists because we know their discoveries will move us closer to our goal of reducing the death and suffering from prostate cancer,” said PCF President and CEO Charles J. Ryan, MD.

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Symptom management is a critical, yet often overlooked, facet of the cancer experience. This reality, along with the extraordinary care and revolutionary science taking place at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, inspired the Fireman Family to make a generous gift of $2.5 million from the Paul and Phyllis Fireman Charitable Foundation. This gift to the Institute will support the development of a symptom management platform that will greatly ease the burden of cancer and its treatment for patients. By leveraging Dana-Farber’s existing knowledge and resources in this area, cross-team experts will create a next-generation, evidence-based symptom management solution that will use a patient-centric model to enhance clinicians’ ability to preemptively address and effectively treat the symptoms of cancer.

The Fireman Family is committed to helping Dana-Farber improve patient care. Nausea, pain, and other symptoms can be debilitating for patients, increasing emergency room visits and hospital stays, and driving higher costs and lower quality of life. Dana-Farber’s symptom management platform will address these issues by combining expert guidance with technology-based protocols to support patients, clinical teams, and caregivers through the cancer journey. Ultimately, it will improve outcomes and transform the care experience for patients.

Paul and Phyllis Fireman have supported Dana-Farber for many years, along with their children, Stephanie and Adam Rogers, Lori and Denny Baldwin, and Dan and Penny Fireman. Past gifts from the family have gone to the Leonard P. Zakim Center for Integrative Therapies and Healthy Living; research in lung cancer, leukemia, and sarcoma; and many more exceptional projects. Most recently, they were inspired to work with Dana-Farber President and CEO Laurie H. Glimcher, MD, and Dana-Farber staff to drive this project forward.

“Our family is honored to be able to support one of the key pillars of Dana-Farber’s mission—patient care,” said Paul and Phyllis Fireman. “We hope this gift will lead to novel approaches to care that will improve the quality of life for patients.”

Adam Reich, vice president of Business Initiatives and Alliances; Michael Hassett, MD, MPH, chief quality officer; and Terri Jabaley, PhD, RN, OCN, clinical inquiry specialist for the Phyllis F. Cantor Center for Research in Nursing and Patient Care Services, will work together with patients and care teams to develop the platform, which will be a central place for symptom reporting and tracking, education, and clinical decision support. This tool will give patients more control of their treatment, help doctors and nurses work more efficiently, and ultimately reduce cost of care and unnecessary hospital visits. The Fireman Family is also excited about the unique opportunity of this gift to create lasting impact and funding for Dana-Farber for years to come.

“I am excited and grateful for this wonderful commitment from the Fireman Family,” said Glimcher, who is also the Richard and Susan Smith Professor of Medicine. “This gift will ultimately benefit so many in our patient community at Dana-Farber, and patients with cancer being treated around the world.”

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Paula and Rodger Riney of St. Louis, through the Paula and Rodger Riney Foundation, have made a $40 million grant to support multiple myeloma research at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. The grant represents the largest single award supporting multiple myeloma research in Dana-Farber’s history. The Paula and Rodger Riney Foundation has been a strong supporter of Dana-Farber and with this grant has cumulatively awarded nearly $60 million to the Institute.

Multiple myeloma is a challenging cancer that forms in a type of white blood cell called a plasma cell. Dana-Farber has been at the forefront of multiple myeloma therapies over the past two decades, helping to convert myeloma from a fatal disease to a chronic condition for many patients.

However, therapeutic resistance and drug-related toxicities continue to take a toll on many patients, underscoring the need for innovative treatments.

“The path to developing new treatments for multiple myeloma is through rigorous research,” said Laurie H. Glimcher, MD, president and CEO of Dana-Farber and the Richard and Susan Smith Professor of Medicine. “The most effective way to spur that research is in supporting the scientists doing the complex work. The Riney Family are generous and stalwart supporters, and through this grant and their previous support they continue to make a profound impact on scientific discovery and clinical care. Their leadership will help patients at Dana-Farber and around the world.”

“My own journey as a myeloma patient—and knowing how many others are also living with this disease—has led us to seek out the individuals, teams, and organizations that are on the leading edge of research,” said Rodger Riney. “There is no time to waste in the pursuit of better understanding, treatment, and cures.”

Accelerating translational research

This new $40 million grant builds upon ongoing work and will deepen and expand approaches for addressing the most complex challenges in myeloma research and improving patient care. Specifically, this grant will:

• Renew support for preclinical experiments to identify novel targets and develop new medicines and immune-based therapies for patients;

• Fund clinical research designed to test novel myeloma therapies, alone and in combination with standard and experimental treatments, to improve patient outcomes; and,

• Support co-location of myeloma labs at Dana-Farber to facilitate greater cohesion and collaboration among members of the research team.

“I extend my heartfelt thanks to Paula and Rodger Riney for their unprecedented support of our research to develop novel treatments for multiple myeloma,” said Ken Anderson, MD, program director at Dana-Farber’s Jerome Lipper Multiple Myeloma Center and LeBow Institute for Myeloma Therapeutics and the Kraft Family Professor of Medicine. “This very generous grant will fast-forward our translation of basic discoveries to clinical trials, ultimately providing innovative treatments for patients and their families.”

Anderson will lead the research efforts supported by this grant in close partnership with Nikhil Munshi, MD, director of basic and correlative science at the Lipper Center and the Kraft Family Chair at Dana-Farber. The grant will also provide support for clinical work led by Paul Richardson, MD, clinical program leader and director of clinical research at the Lipper Center and the R.J. Corman Professor of Medicine.

“My family and I feel grateful to be able to support Ken, Paul, and Nikhil and their teams at Dana-Farber who are making incredible inroads,” said Riney. “We are humbled by the lifelong dedication that they bring to myeloma patients suffering from this terrible disease. We hope this gift will inspire others to also support the tremendous work happening every day in Dana- Farber’s labs and clinics.”

A legacy of leadership

The Rineys have a strong legacy of supporting multiple myeloma research at Dana-Farber and in 2019 gave a $16.5 million gift to establish the Riney Family Multiple Myeloma Initiative, which has driven groundbreaking research in record time. Examples of recent discoveries by Dana-Farber investigators include:

• Bringing therapeutic antibodies, which help immune cells find and attack tumors, to patients with multiple myeloma.

• Setting the stage for the development of innovative therapies that exploit the unique vulnerabilities of multiple myeloma cells.

Over the past two years, the Paula and Rodger Riney Foundation also made gifts totaling $2.6 million to establish the Riney Family Fund for COVID-19 and Multiple Myeloma Research at Dana-Farber, under Richardson’s direction.

These commitments provide powerful momentum for The Dana-Farber Campaign, an ambitious multi-year $2 billion fundraising effort to prevent, treat, and defy cancer by accelerating revolutionary science, extraordinary care, exceptional expertise, and essential opportunities.

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The Massachusetts Life Sciences Center (MLSC) has granted three Dana-Farber investigators a total of $1.35 million to support innovative research aimed at improving the diagnosis and treatment of breast and ovarian cancer.

With funding from MLSC’s Women’s Health Program, Elizabeth Mittendorf, MD, PhD, director of the Breast Immuno-Oncology Program and co-director of the Breast Cancer Clinical Research Program at Dana-Farber, is leveraging digital technologies to identify and cure high-risk breast cancer. In collaboration with an industry partner, Mittendorf is designing computer algorithms capable of identifying features in tumor biopsies and surgical specimens that can distinguish between high- and low-risk breast tumors.

“This project could lead to the development of new diagnostic and prognostic tools that will help us determine which patients are at greater risk of tumor recurrence after standard treatment and might benefit from a more aggressive therapeutic approach,” Mittendorf said. “I am extremely grateful to the MLSC for funding this work.”

Elizabeth Stover, MD, PhD, and Sara Tolaney, MD, MPH, chief of the Division of Breast Oncology within the Susan F. Smith Center for Women’s Cancers, have each been awarded a Women’s Health Innovation grant.

Tolaney aims to determine how microbes in the intestines influence therapeutic responses in patients with breast cancer. Results from these experiments may reveal specific types of bacteria whose prevalence in the gut predict whether a patient will respond to a given therapy. The findings might also help researchers learn how to alter microbial populations in the gut to improve patient responses to breast cancer treatments.

In collaboration with Oliver Jonas, PhD, of Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Stover is using an implantable microdevice smaller than a grain of rice to measure drug responses in patients with ovarian cancer. The microdevice is designed to release up to 20 drugs into non-overlapping regions of tumor tissue. By implanting it directly into patients’ tumors and later analyzing the tumor tissues surrounding it, Stover can assess the anti-tumor activity of each drug. This novel technology could one day be used to optimize treatment in patients with ovarian cancer.

The MLSC’s multi-pronged mission is to serve as the hub of the world’s life sciences ecosystem; encourage innovation through investments in good science and business; strengthen and protect Massachusetts’ global leadership position in the life sciences; accelerate the commercialization of promising treatments, therapies, and cures that will improve patient care; create jobs; and drive economic and workforce development in science and technology. Its Women’s Health Initiative, launched in 2020, supports and incentivizes translational research focused on health challenges that predominantly affect women.

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Supporting Dana-Farber Cancer Institute is a lifelong commitment for Emily and Ned Sherwood. Sitting in their sunny Florida home, Emily Sherwood fondly shared recollections of her sister, Daryl Elizabeth Layzer, “a very bright, motivated person who worked throughout her illness. Her life was cut short, too early. She had a lot more to give.”

In her memory, the Ned & Emily Sherwood Family Foundation established the Daryl Elizabeth Layzer Endowed Fellowship at Dana-Farber with a gift of $1 million. The fellowship furthers research in multiple myeloma under the direction of Kenneth Anderson, MD, program director of the Jerome Lipper Multiple Myeloma Center and LeBow Institute for Myeloma Therapeutics and the Kraft Family Professor of Medicine. He was also Daryl’s physician. The endowment will specifically fund the work of a fellow selected annually by Anderson.

Investment in talent is one of the most important ways to accelerate scientific discovery, and the Sherwoods have long known that support of “human capital” is key to keeping Dana-Farber at the forefront of cancer medicine.

“We have been giving to further Ken’s multiple myeloma research since 1998,” said Ned Sherwood. Their ongoing contributions, in tribute to Daryl, have focused on advancing multiple myeloma research and talented fellows under Anderson’s tutelage. Building on their long legacy of generosity to Dana-Farber, this permanent fund will support generations to come. “Years ago, we started working with Ken to help defray costs of a promising researcher, and we’ve been fortunate to support fellows over the years. We are delighted to endow our support to ensure that important advances in myeloma research and care continue generation after generation.”

“Endowed positions like the Daryl Elizabeth Layzer Endowed Fellowship serve as a powerful recruitment and retention tool in support of exceptional talent,” said Anderson. “With Emily and Ned’s generous support, we will continue to attract the best and brightest minds and continue to shape the next generation of leaders in cancer research and care. We are deeply grateful for their inspirational, long-lasting, and heartfelt tribute to Daryl, which will benefit patients with myeloma worldwide.”

Anderson has mentored many pioneers and internationally recognized researchers who continue to make valuable breakthrough contributions at Dana-Farber and around the world. This includes Annamaria Gullà, MD, who was awarded the prestigious 2020 Joanne Levy, MD, Memorial Award for Outstanding Achievement, an honor given to an American Society of Hematology Scholar. Gullà was supported by funding from the Sherwoods’ previously established Daryl Elizabeth Layzer Term Fellowship.

“Ken cares so much,” said Emily Sherwood. “While he receives so many wonderful recognitions and honors all over the world, he remains truly compassionate, inspirational, and humble. He has built up a department at Dana-Farber that is second to none. This is not a commitment that has a beginning and end for us. No matter what, we will always recognize Dana-Farber and what they did for my sister.”

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Since 2013, Neal and Vicki Roth’s support has fueled remarkable progress in multiple myeloma research under the leadership of Kenneth Anderson, MD, program director of Dana-Farber’s Jerome Lipper Center for Multiple Myeloma and LeBow Institute for Myeloma Therapeutics, and the Kraft Family Professor of Medicine. Now, through a gift of $1 million providing additional support to the Vicki and Neal Roth Fellowship for Multiple Myeloma Research, the Roths have underscored their commitment to transforming the prognosis for multiple myeloma patients at Dana-Farber and around the world.

Due in no small part to Anderson and his colleagues at Dana-Farber, the outlook for patients with multiple myeloma has improved dramatically over the past two decades. Anderson’s work led to the development of bortezomib, which was the first new myeloma medicine in more than 30 years when it was approved by the FDA in 2003. Anderson and his team have led the way in developing almost all of the 15 medicines approved for myeloma today, enabling many patients to live three to five times longer than they did before the approval of bortezomib.

There is, however, still work to be done. Over time, myeloma cells grow impervious to even the most potent medicines, causing disease relapse. Moreover, some myeloma subtypes do not respond well to standard treatments. Through the Roth Fellowship for Multiple Myeloma Research, under Anderson’s direction, physician-scientists at the Lipper Center are confronting these challenges head on. The Roths’ recent gift will sponsor five fellows as they pursue investigations aimed at answering the most critical questions regarding the biology and treatment of myeloma. The inaugural Roth Fellow, Liang Lin, PhD, demonstrated the lifesaving work that is possible with this support. Among other points of progress, Lin advanced the development of an antibody-drug conjugate, a new type of medicine for myeloma, toward clinical trials. Investments in developing this type of expertise and in advancing new treatments and prevention are critical

priorities of The Dana-Farber Campaign.

The Roths believe in the continued impact that the fellows will have in myeloma research. “The Roth Fellows, with Dr. Anderson as their mentor, have the power to change the course of this disease,” said Neal. “Their work is essential to creating a world in which myeloma is not only treatable, but preventable.”

Anderson, who has built a relationship with the Roths over the past nine years, looks forward to extending the pipeline of promising new treatment strategies with their support and building the next generation of leaders for myeloma research.

“Vicki and Neal have been tremendous partners in the progress we have made in myeloma research and treatment,” Anderson said. “With this generous gift, our team will build upon these achievements in the years ahead.”

In honor of Anderson’s work, the Roths have also contributed an ink print by Frank Grisdale entitled “Sweet Fields, Study No. 2, 2008,” which will be displayed at the Yawkey Center for Cancer Care.

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Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is the most common type of pancreatic cancer, accounting for more than 90% of diagnoses. Highly aggressive, the disease is difficult to treat with very limited therapeutic options. To help expedite the development of new treatments, the Lustgarten Foundation recently provided a $1.2 million grant to Dana-Farber’s David Pellman, MD, the Margaret M. Dyson Professor of Pediatric Oncology. The Lustgarten Foundation funds innovative and bold research that aligns with their mission to transform pancreatic cancer into a curable disease. This grant builds on the foundation’s two decades of significant support for Dana-Farber’s pioneering pancreatic cancer research, including previous support of Pellman’s PDAC studies. Since 2002, the Lustgarten Foundation has granted more than $14.5 million to Dana-Farber.

“New therapeutic options are desperately needed for patients with this devastating disease,” said Pellman. “We are very grateful to the Lustgarten Foundation for supporting our efforts to understand the biology driving pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma and identify more effective treatments and approaches.”

PDAC is difficult to treat in part because it progresses at such a rapid pace. Scientists believe this is connected to the fact that PDAC genomes undergo largescale, “catastrophic” rearrangements all at once rather than changing one mutation at a time. Pellman and his team have identified two specific events that cause pancreatic cells to undergo errors as they grow and divide, which they believe to be the source of the initial genome catastrophes that arise as PDAC progresses. With this support from the Lustgarten Foundation, Pellman and his team will further explore these two events and directly test their impact on PDAC progression.

Another obstacle to treating PDAC is that immunotherapies—treatments that help the immune system fight cancer—are not yet effective against the disease. Cancer immunotherapy has transformed outcomes for some patients with cancer, but the approach is currently effective for only about a quarter of cancer patients. Dramatically increasing the percentage of patients for whom immunotherapies are successful is a key priority of The Dana-Farber Campaign. This new Lustgarten Foundation grant will allow Pellman and his laboratory to test new strategies that might boost the efficacy of immunotherapies against this disease, potentially expanding the benefit of this treatment approach to patients with PDAC.

“Dr. Pellman’s exciting immunotherapy project is precisely the kind of high-risk, high-reward research that has the potential to dramatically accelerate and expand lifesaving treatment options,” said Linda Tantawi, Lustgarten Foundation CEO. “The Lustgarten Foundation is committed to advancing the best science conducted by the best, most creative scientists in the field. Our longstanding partnership with and investment in Dana-Farber Cancer Institute is a testament to their exceptional research.”

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Since its founding in 1991, Gateway for Cancer Research has accelerated promising early phase clinical trials to develop novel therapies for all types of cancers. With the aim of bringing breakthroughs to the bedside for courageous patients and their families, Gateway has supported more than 190 clinical trials over the past three decades. In 2021, Gateway awarded three grants totaling more than $1 million to Dana-Farber’s Suzanne Forrest, MD, Jonathan Schoenfeld, MD, MPH, and Sara Tolaney, MD, MPH, chief of the Division of Breast Oncology within the Susan F. Smith Center for Women’s Cancers.

“It is a privilege to support the high-caliber clinical research being advanced at Dana-Farber,” said Michael Burton, president and CEO of Gateway for Cancer Research. “We believe in the power of partnerships at Gateway and we are confident that our collaboration with Dana-Farber will truly make a difference for the patients we serve.”

“We are honored to award and activate these three early phase trials led by clinician-scientists who are passionate and relentlessly focused on cancers where there is a large unmet need,” said Delora Senft, chief program officer of Gateway for Cancer Research.

Forrest is directing her funding toward a phase 2 clinical trial testing combination immune checkpoint therapy in pediatric, adolescent, and young adult patients with INI1-negative tumors, a group of aggressive cancers that are difficult to cure. This trial comes on the heels of a genomic study of such cancers which found that a significant portion of INI1-negative tumors express PD-L1, an immune checkpoint protein that keeps the immune system from recognizing and attacking cancer cells. A phase 1 clinical trial testing nivolumab and ipilimumab, both checkpoint inhibitors, confirmed the treatment combination was safe for pediatric patients. This phase 2 trial will help determine its efficacy in a specific group of cancers that need better treatments.

“There is a pressing need to identify effective treatments for INI1-negative pediatric cancers,” Forrest explained. “With Gateway’s support, we are one step closer to bringing a promising therapy to a particularly vulnerable population.”

With Glenn Hanna, MD, director of the Center for Salivary and Rare Head and Neck Cancers, Schoenfeld is leading a clinical trial for adenoid cystic carcinoma (ACC), a cancer of the salivary glands that can be particularly difficult to treat once it has metastasized. Their team is testing the efficacy of a new therapeutic approach in which early metastatic sites of ACC, prior to widespread metastasis, are locally treated with a targeted form of radiation. The aim of the trial is to ascertain whether such focused and specialized treatment in the early phases of metastasis can prevent the spread of ACC.

“We are profoundly grateful to Gateway for making this trial possible for our patients,” said Schoenfeld. “With their help, we could validate a treatment method that changes the standard management of this disease.”

Tolaney is leveraging her award to determine if immunotherapies are effective against hormone receptor-positive (HR+) breast cancer. She and her colleagues have developed a phase 2 trial that will utilize a novel antibody drug-conjugate called sacituzumab govitecan in addition to immunotherapy for patients whose metastatic HR+ disease expresses PD-L1.

“Patients with HR+ metastatic breast cancer face limited treatment options,” said Tolaney. “Thanks to Gateway, we are able to investigate if immunotherapy, which has been transformative for many other cancers, could answer this unmet clinical need.”

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Starting with one lemonade stand in 2000, Alexandra “Alex” Scott’s brave and industrious spirit propelled her to raise $1 million toward a world without pediatric cancer before she passed away at age 8. Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation (ALSF) was established by her parents to continue Alex’s movement, and it has raised more than $250 million supporting innovative research and care for children diagnosed with cancer. Recent grant awards from ALSF totaling more than $1.2 million support Dana-Farber Cancer Institute investigators in pursuing cutting-edge research to address urgent needs in pediatric solid and blood cancers.

Mimi Bandopadhayay, MBBS, PhD, received the “A” Award Grant to pursue her research on different genetic changes that drive pediatric high-grade gliomas when they occur together with mutations to histone proteins. Bandopadhayay will use genomic methods to understand the mechanisms underlying these effects and the interplay of different histone mutations, with the goal of developing novel therapies for pediatric high-grade gliomas and applying the insights gained through this research across cancers.

Jessica Tsai, MD, PhD, a postdoctoral research fellow in the Bandopadhayay lab, received a Young Investigator Award to build on her discovery that almost one in 10 diffuse intrinsic pontine gliomas have elevated levels of the FOXR2 protein. FOXR2 accelerates cancer growth and may have potential as a new target for cancer treatment. With this grant, Tsai will analyze how FOXR2 leads to cancer formation with an eye towards identifying treatments for these currently incurable brain tumors.

Two grants were awarded to Loren Walensky, MD, PhD, to support his efforts to advance next-generation therapies for treatment-resistant childhood cancers. The first will support work to move a triple-action agent known as a stapled peptide degrader from the laboratory to the bedside with the potential to target several cancer-driving pathways at once in a broad spectrum of pediatric cancers. The second will help Walensky continue developing stapled BH3 peptides to overcome resistance to venetoclax, a drug whose use is rapidly expanding in childhood and adult blood cancers to trigger cell death in tumor cells.

Co-funded by ALSF and the RUNX1 Foundation, an Early Career Investigator Grant was awarded to Waihay Wong, MD, PhD, to support his study of how inflammatory proteins contribute to the immune response in blood cells lacking normal RUNX1 function. Wong is focusing on the protein NLRP3 to determine whether inhibiting its action could stop harmful inflammation and the development of blood cancers.

“Bringing hope to children diagnosed with cancer and their families requires dedication to research over many years,” said Liz Scott, co-executive director of ALSF. “This is why we believe in funding early career scientists as well as established investigators and why we continue partnering with Dana-Farber in pursuit of therapies that will be more innovative and impactful than ever before.”

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