Donor Recognition

Wycliffe “Wyc” Grousbeck and Emilia Fazzalari are firm believers that “good things don’t come easy.” As philanthropic and entrepreneurial leaders in the Boston community, they seek out innovative and exceptional people who are tackling groundbreaking endeavors that are simply too compelling to refuse.

This approach led them to make an extraordinary gift to help establish the Centers for Early Detection and Interception (CEDI) at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, which launched in December 2023. Their transformational support is empowering CEDI’s leadership—Irene Ghobrial, MD, director of the Center for Early Detection and Interception of Blood Cancers and Lavine Family Chair for Preventative Cancer Therapies at Dana-Farber; Betsy O’Donnell, MD, director of Early Detection and Prevention of Malignant Conditions; and Sapna Syngal, MD, MPH, director of research, Division of Cancer Genetics and Prevention and of Strategic Planning for Prevention and Early Cancer Detection—to guide a radical shift in the paradigm of cancer treatment through CEDI. This first-of-its-kind, integrated clinic brings together clinicians and researchers across cancer types to advance early detection of precancerous conditions, identify individuals at increased risk, and develop new and powerful interventions to stop cancer in its tracks.

The foundational investment from Grousbeck and Fazzalari ensures that Dana-Farber can build on its existing expertise in screening, risk assessment, and interception to deliver proactive care to more patients. Their support will enable CEDI to develop diagnostic strategies and advance cutting-edge technologies, expand biobanking resources, accelerate and enhance the use of vaccines and other immunotherapies, and ultimately create targeted patient monitoring plans that help prevent cancer from arising in individuals with increased risks. “The key word is prevention,” says Fazzalari, who is a co-founder and executive chairperson of Cincoro Tequila and serves on multiple boards in Boston and New York City. “The ability to identify those at risk, understand one’s predispositions, and make lifestyle changes to avoid cancer is an ideal that is now within reach. There is still a long way to go, but the result is so important and worth pursuing.”

Laurie H. Glimcher, MD, Dana-Farber president and CEO and the Richard and Susan Smith Professor of Medicine, believes this gift and CEDI have the potential to change the trajectory of cancer diagnoses for patients and families in Boston, New England, and around the world. “This visionary contribution to The Dana-Farber Campaign will shape the field of cancer medicine for the years and generations to come,” says Glimcher. “Their generosity is helping Dana-Farber meet a critical turning point in global cancer science: shifting from a reactive to proactive standard of care model that is personalized to meet individual needs.”

Looking to the future, Grousbeck, who is the managing partner, governor, and CEO of the Boston Celtics, is optimistic about the path ahead. “Dana-Farber has their sights on an exciting goal that will save many lives and we have the utmost confidence in the team to take us there,” said Grousbeck. “The building blocks to cancer prevention and early detection are in place and we want to help pave the way for people to get there faster while ensuring everyone has equitable access.”

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The Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation has awarded more than $3.2 million in grants to nine early career investigators at Dana-Farber, including Mounica Vallurupalli, MD, who was named the foundation’s first Damon Runyon-David M. Livingston, MD, Physician-Scientist. The late David Livingston, MD, was a prominent expert on the molecular origins of breast and ovarian cancer who held many leadership positions at Dana-Farber for nearly 50 years.

The foundation, founded in 1946 in memory of the iconic sportswriter and journalist Damon Runyon, has invested more than $450 million in nearly 4,000 scientists who are conducting “audacious and ambitious” research into the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of cancer. It has supported Dana-Farber investigators with more than $26 million to date.

In addition to Vallurupalli’s award, the foundation made the following grants in 2023: the Dale F. Frey Award for Breakthrough Scientists to Benjamin Stinson, PhD; Physician-Scientist Training Award to Nina Weichert-Leahey, MD; Pediatric Cancer Fellowships to April Apfelbaum, PhD, and Costanza Lo Cascio, PhD; a Clinical Investigator Award to Sylvan Baca, MD, PhD; and Postdoctoral Research Fellowships to Kheewoong Baek, PhD, and Anders Dohlman, PhD. The foundation also extended further Damon Runyon- Rachleff Innovation Award funding to Srinivas Viswanathan, MD, PhD.

Vallurupalli is investigating proteins called splicing factors, which when mutated, can cause certain blood cancers to form. Her research focuses on the role of splicing dysregulation in the development of myelodysplastic syndromes and leukemia, which could yield new therapeutic strategies to defeat these cancers.

With his award, Stinson is studying the mechanisms that cells use to repair broken DNA—non-homologous end joining (NHEJ) and homologous recombination (HR). When these are defective, cancers can result. Stinson is researching how HR suppresses cancer when it is working properly and how cancer cells become resistant to treatment when it is not.

Weichert-Leahey will use her grant to test a new drug against neuroblastoma, a cancer that originates in the adrenal glands and is most common in infants and children under 5. She will test a promising small molecule drug, PF-9363, together with isotretinoin to see whether the combination therapy can improve outcomes for children with high-risk neuroblastoma.

“We take great pride in enabling brilliant young scientists to take risks and experimentally address important and bold questions in cancer research,” said Yung Lie, PhD, president and chief executive officer of the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation. “I have no doubt that these Dana-Farber projects will yield exciting results.”

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Longtime Dana-Farber supporter Conquer Cancer,® the ASCO Foundation, recently awarded $1.45 million to support seven researchers pursuing projects in a wide range of disease areas.

Ana Garrido-Castro, MD, and Guilherme Nader-Marta, MD, are both leading studies into treatments for metastatic triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), an aggressive form of breast cancer for which few targeted treatments exist. Garrido-Castro is evaluating the use of antibody-drug conjugates (ADC), which are antibodies that carry potent chemotherapy and bind to specific targets on cancer cells, thereby delivering chemotherapy in a targeted manner to tumors. Garrido-Castro is now conducting a multicenter, phase 2 trial that aims to identify which patients will benefit most from sequential ADC therapy.

Nader-Marta has found a potential drug target in TNBC—a protein called prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) which often presents in high levels in patients with metastatic TNBC. Nader-Marta will test the efficacy of a drug that has already demonstrated efficacy in patients with prostate cancer.

With her funding, Elizabeth Carstens, MD, is refining the use of CAR T-cell therapy in patients with advanced multiple myeloma. This therapy entails collecting T cells from patients and altering them outside of the body to produce chimeric antigen receptors (CAR) that can target cancer cells. Carstens is testing a method to reprogram T cells so that patients can generate them inside the body, reducing the time needed for the procedure.

Narjust Florez, MD, is leading a study into the effects of immune checkpoint inhibitors on fertility in women of childbearing age receiving treatment for early stage lung cancer and melanoma, with the goal of enhancing patient-provider communication around these topics and creating interventions to mitigate the negative effects of these therapies.

Riaz Gillani, MD, is studying inherited genetic changes in DNA damage repair genes that increase risk for Ewing sarcoma—one of the most common bone and soft tissue cancers that affects children and adolescents—in order to improve prevention methods, predict treatment resistance, and design more informed treatment plans.

ER-positive HER2-negative breast cancer is one of the most common forms of breast cancer found in male patients. Jose Pablo Leone, MD, is leading a multicenter study that aims to expand endocrine therapy options for this patient population.

Jaclyn LoPiccolo, MD, PhD, is analyzing the genetic changes associated with young-onset lung cancer to help identify patients at higher risk for developing the disease and predict how the cancer will respond to targeted treatments.

“We’re so proud to support these researchers as they pursue innovative projects across the cancer spectrum,” said Conquer Cancer CEO Nancy Daly, MS, MPH. “By supporting these physician-scientists, we accelerate lifesaving research and empower more people to conquer cancer.”

For more stories about the impact of philanthropy at Dana-Farber, please visit DanaFarberImpact.org.

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For nearly a decade, the Schaubert family has been a dedicated supporter of lung cancer research at Dana-Farber. Building on a legacy of giving begun by her late husband, Eileen Schaubert has generously pledged $1.5 million to establish the Schaubert Family Endowed Fellowship, a gift that provides immediate and future support for the next generation of lung cancer experts while furthering pioneering research overseen by David Barbie, MD, director of the Lowe Center for Thoracic Oncology.

Steve Schaubert was inspired to make the family’s first gift to Dana-Farber following his own successful treatment for small cell lung cancer shortly before he passed away of unrelated causes in 2015. In the years following, Steve’s wife, Eileen, along with their daughters Suzanne Schaubert Thornfeldt and Amy Schaubert Brown, has built on his commitment through further support of Barbie’s research. With this new gift, the Schauberts are funding the work of early career physician-scientists dedicated to lung cancer research at Dana-Farber, under Barbie’s direction.

“As we’ve learned more about Dr. Barbie’s work, we’ve come to understand the importance of fellows in cancer research,” said Schaubert. “These young investigators are bringing their valuable knowledge and experience to lung cancer research and patient care at Dana-Farber, and we want to ensure Dr. Barbie is able to look to the future knowing he will have fellowship funding in perpetuity.”

In addition to providing critical research support, philanthropic investments like the Schaubert Family Endowed Fellowship help Dana-Farber attract the brightest minds in the field and prepare a new generation of physicians and scientists to become leaders in clinical and laboratory investigation and patient care. With steady funding provided by the endowment, investigators and clinicians can focus on spending more time with patients and translating findings into new treatment protocols that can help patients around the world.

“Fellowships backed by philanthropic funding allow early career physician-scientists to launch their careers in lung cancer oncology at Dana-Farber, while simultaneously bringing their new, unique perspectives to our lab,” said Barbie. “I am grateful for the Schauberts’ visionary support in helping us pursue more effective treatments for lung cancer patients.”

“Our family’s experience at Dana-Farber has given me full confidence in the dedication and capabilities of its people,” Eileen says. “We feel so fortunate that we are able to help support lung cancer research at Dana-Farber in this way.”

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Philanthropy has transformative power to address society’s intractable challenges. The Gray Foundation is committed to this goal and, with two grants totaling nearly $6 million, is harnessing this power for good through The Dana-Farber Campaign. Co-founded by Jon Gray, president and chief operating officer of Blackstone, one of the world’s leading investment firms, and his wife, Mindy, the Gray Foundation has funded close to $200 million in BRCA-related research since 2012. These latest grants to Dana-Farber are part of a recent $25 million initiative that awarded grants to seven research teams.

Individuals who inherit a mutated BRCA gene are 60% more likely to develop certain cancers compared to the general population. The Gray Foundation recently awarded grants to multi-institutional, multi-disciplinary teams studying BRCA, including those led by Judy Garber, MD, MPH, chief of the Division of Cancer Genetics and Prevention and the Susan F. Smith Chair at Dana-Farber; and Dipanjan Chowdhury, PhD, chief of the Division of Radiation and Genome Stability and the Svanberg Family Chair at Dana-Farber, who are also codirectors of the Institute’s Center for BRCA and Related Genes. The goal of these awards is to maximize collective impact so each new discovery leads to further advances and innovations toward the prevention, early detection, and interception of cancer.

Previous research by Garber suggests that PARP inhibitors (PARPi) and similar agents that treat certain cancers by targeting the body’s DNA repair system may reduce, or even prevent, future development of precancerous lesions driven by BRCA mutations into breast or ovarian cancer. Now, Garber is collecting healthy breast or fallopian tissue from patients who received PARPi therapy for another non-metastatic BRCA-related cancer. She and her collaborators will use advanced scientific profiling techniques to comprehensively evaluate the effects of PARPi and compare PARPi-treated tissue with healthy tissue from BRCA mutation carriers not treated with PARPi to search for biomarkers or other indicators associated with the progression of BRCA-related cancer.

About half of people who carry a BRCA mutation have a family history of cancer that would indicate genetic testing. Despite this, only one in 10 of the estimated 1 million carriers in the U.S. is aware of their status. Furthermore, current tests for ovarian cancer only detect the disease at advanced stages. Chowdhury has previously identified a set of 10 microRNAs (miRNAs), small molecules that affect gene regulation, whose presence in blood is associated with BRCA mutations. The miRNAs can be used to detect the mutations in individuals from high-risk families to help address these gaps in testing and early disease detection. Chowdhury will study patient blood samples taken over time with two aims: first, to test the miRNA set in predicting breast cancer cases retrospectively and better understand the clinical lead time to diagnosis, and second, to explore the possibility of other, currently unknown inherited drivers of cancer predisposition being correlated with this miRNA set.

Ultimately, these investigations could significantly improve cancer surveillance and prevention. “Our goal is to support the best minds in cancer research studying BRCA-associated pre-cancer and early cancerous lesions,” said Mindy and Jon Gray. “Dr. Garber’s and Dr. Chowdhury’s world-class projects stand to transform outcomes for individuals and families with BRCA-related mutations.”

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Despite all she’s been through, Jill Altman considers herself lucky. For nearly half her life, Jill has had run-ins with cancer—starting when she was diagnosed with low-malignant potential ovarian cancer in 1996 at just 22 years old. Jill received a total hysterectomy and at first was told she didn’t need chemotherapy. When that recommendation shifted and Jill’s family began to encounter conflicting advice from doctors close to home in New York, a friend suggested they go to Dana-Farber. There, a meeting with Ursula Matulonis, MD, chief of the Division of Gynecologic Oncology and the Brock-Wilson Family Chair at Dana-Farber, changed everything.

“Up until that point, no one had taken the time to explain anything to us,” said Jill’s father, Frank Altman. “The culture at Dana-Farber was so incredible. They were willing to listen. They cared.” Jill agreed. “We were immediately comfortable at Dana-Farber,” she said. “We knew we were home.”

Matulonis was familiar with Jill’s rare form of cancer and, along with colleagues including Michael Muto, MD, director of the Gynecologic Oncology Fellowship Program at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Matulonis confirmed that Jill did not need chemotherapy. Instead, she recommended that Jill continue to be seen and go on living her life. Jill did just that, soon getting married and becoming a stepmother.

In 2012, 16 years after her initial surgery, Jill was diagnosed with low-grade serous carcinoma and underwent surgery to remove her spleen. Then in 2018, she developed pain in her clavicle and felt a lump. Jill and her family once again received frightening and conflicting recommendations. But this time, they knew who to trust.

“We went back to Ursula and she immediately knew what to do,” said Jill. “It sounds weird to say, but I had the best time. Dana-Farber is a fantasy land.”

Jill received pinpoint radiation, working with Matulonis and radiation oncologist Larissa Lee, MD, who spent hours on the phone with Jill explaining this treatment. The approach worked wonderfully, and Jill has been healthy ever since. Sadly in 2021, Lee passed away from gastrointestinal cancer—a devastating loss to many, including Jill.

Inspired by Lee, Matulonis, and her care at Dana-Farber, Jill decided to make a significant bequest to the Institute in memory of Lee. Half of the funds will support Matulonis’ gynecologic oncology research, and the other half will provide crucial unrestricted support to drive key Institute initiatives. Jill hopes for more research about her specific type of cancer and more happy outcomes.

“I wanted to have a positive impact on other women going through this and knew I could do something,” said Jill. “We believe in Dana-Farber.”

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More than 10 years ago, Steven Treon, MD, PhD, and his colleagues were the first scientists to discover that MYD88 mutations, which occur in more than 95% of patients with Waldenström’s macroglobulinemia (WM), rely on the BTK protein to function. This research led to Food and Drug Administration approval of ibrutinib, the first drug to specifically treat this slow-growing form of non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

With grants totaling more than $1.2 million from the International Waldenstrom’s Macroglobulinemia Foundation (IWMF), Treon and his colleagues from Dana-Farber’s Bing Center for Waldenström’s Macroglobulinemia are delving deeper into the biology and genetics of WM in hopes of developing new, more effective treatments for patients.

Treon, director of the Bing Center, is using an IWMF Legacy Grant to develop drugs called PROTACs that use the body’s own cellular disposal system to rid itself of proteins essential to the growth and survival of WM cells. One of the proteins Treon identified is HCK, a powerful survival signaling molecule that is turned on by MYD88. To identify possible HCK degraders, Treon and his team will use a new approach to drug development called chemoproteomics, which identifies potential compounds that bind to cancer-causing proteins and degrades them.

“In these studies, we will focus on drugs that directly hit and degrade HCK,” says Treon. “By doing so, we hope to broadly shut down the signal cascades that allow WM cells to grow and survive. We are grateful for the IWMF’s generous support of this important work.”

As part of the IWMF/LLS Strategic Research Roadmap Initiative, Zachary Hunter, PhD, the Bliss Family Investigator in Waldenström’s Macroglobulinemia, is studying novel isoforms—alternate forms of proteins that can perform related but often distinct biochemical functions—and tumor evolution in WM. Specifically, he will investigate how abnormal isoforms relate to the evolution of disease subtypes. Identifying these targets may lead to more personalized therapy approaches.

Maria Luisa Guerrera, MD, previously discovered that WNK2 is one of the top dysregulated genes in WM. With a Robert A. Kyle Career Development Award from IWMF, she will continue to study WNK2 to better understand the different ways WM cells improperly regulate the gene and how these changes affect WM cells’ behavior and growth. Her findings may lead to new treatment strategies that target altered forms of WNK2.

“All of us with the IWMF are extremely proud of our ongoing partnership with Dana-Farber’s Bing Center and the funding we have provided to support research conducted by Dr. Treon and his incredibly talented team,” said Newton Guerin, IWMF president and CEO. “Collectively, their work has resulted in scientific discovery that has led to more and better therapies for the global WM community.”.

For more stories about the impact of philanthropy at Dana-Farber, please visit DanaFarberImpact.org.

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The Lustgarten Foundation is the largest private funder of pancreatic cancer research in the world, funding preeminent pancreatic cancer researchers, driving the pursuit of bold and innovative science toward earlier detection and better treatments, and transforming pancreatic cancer into a curable disease. A hallmark of the foundation’s unique research strategy, the LABS (Lustgarten Advancing Breakthrough Science) Program, provides long-term funding to promote the development of innovative ideas and speed the pace of discovery by incentivizing interdisciplinary team science.

Through the LABS program, the Lustgarten Foundation awarded a grant of nearly $5 million to Brian Wolpin, MD, MPH, director of the Gastrointestinal Cancer Center and the Robert T. and Judith B. Hale Chair in Pancreatic Cancer at Dana-Farber, and his team of physician-scientists. With this generous funding, they are working to uncover new ways of detecting the disease in its earliest stages—when it can be most easily treated—and developing more effective therapies for patients whose cancer has progressed.

“We are exceptionally grateful for the foundation’s tremendous support, which is helping us make progress against this devastating disease,” said Wolpin. “We owe many of the major strides in pancreatic cancer research to the foundation’s influential advocacy and research funding, and we are beyond grateful for their enduring leadership.”

Together with Andrew Aguirre, MD, PhD, and Jonathan Nowak, MD, PhD, Wolpin is leveraging this grant to propel three projects. The first focuses on developing novel therapeutic approaches by exploring how pancreatic tumor cells adapt following treatment by chemotherapy or KRAS inhibition, a precision therapy that is currently in clinical trials for patients with pancreatic cancer. The team is now conducting in-depth analyses of tumor cell behavior to determine how these complex biological mechanisms might be targeted to inform the development of new therapies.

The second is examining the heterogeneous cellular makeup within pancreatic cancer tumors and their surrounding microenvironments, focusing on how these characteristics vary between primary and metastatic tumor sites. The team is using advanced profiling technologies to spatially map these differences, which promise to inform future therapeutic strategies that account for a tumor’s specific context.

Finally, Wolpin and his team are exploring new approaches to detect pancreatic cancer earlier. Pancreatic cancer is typically discovered at an advanced stage, when treatment options are generally not curative, but recent studies have shown that metabolic changes could signal early cancer formation. To test this hypothesis, Wolpin and his team are leading studies in patients and laboratory models to formulate a comprehensive approach to early detection, using clinical data, blood markers, and radiologic tests.

“The Wolpin-led lab at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute is a critical hub for translational research,” said Linda Tantawi, CEO of the Lustgarten Foundation. “We are proud to support Dr. Wolpin and his team as they push for innovation in pancreatic cancer research, led by a patient-centered mission and science-driven strategy.”

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In cancer research, hope can be realized in how we innovate. Inventive clinical trials can lead to novel approaches and new, accessible medicines that ultimately bring better outcomes to patients. This dynamic is especially true in pancreatic cancer, a historically challenging form of cancer to treat with survival rates that have remained stubbornly low over time. It is a disease that demands urgent innovation, attention, and resources to develop more treatments for patients.

Beth and Rich Kendall hope to do just that. With a generous donation of $1 million, Beth and Rich established the Kendall Family Fund for Innovative Pancreatic Cancer Therapies. Managed under the expert direction of Brian Wolpin, MD, MPH, director of the Gastrointestinal Cancer Center and the Robert T. and Judith B. Hale Chair in Pancreatic Cancer at Dana-Farber, the fund will directly fuel clinical trials for pancreatic cancer while also bolstering new treatments and therapies for gastrointestinal cancer patients. Wolpin will also be able to prioritize the recruitment of key personnel who are essential to the advancement of research and clinical trials. This multi-faceted approach places innovation at its core by supplying resources across disciplines to accelerate progress in the field.

“We believe in Dana-Farber’s commitment to excellence and their relentless pursuit of new solutions for patients,” said Rich. “It is with great optimism that we look forward to the advancements our partnership will bring.”

After witnessing Dana-Farber’s quality of care firsthand during Beth’s father’s treatment for pancreatic cancer, Beth and Rich were inspired to take an active role in supporting Dana-Farber’s efforts to understand, prevent, and treat pancreatic cancer. This latest gift represents one of numerous contributions from the Kendall family, cementing their family’s commitment to pancreatic cancer research.

“We feel a deep responsibility to contribute to a future where pancreatic cancer no longer takes away precious moments from families,” said Beth, “This fund is a tribute to the resilience and courage of those battling this illness. It is our hope that through innovative research and cutting-edge treatments, we can turn the tide against pancreatic cancer and offer new hope to patients and their families.”

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Steve and Joan Clark made their initial investment in artificial intelligence research in 2017, driven by a deep-seated conviction that this technology would revolutionize the world, particularly in the realm of health care and cancer care. And Dana-Farber agrees.

Recent advancements in AI and machine learning have transformed the study of diseases including pancreatic cancer, which is notoriously difficult to treat. Sadly, nearly 80% of patients with pancreatic cancer are diagnosed at an advanced stage when the cancer has already spread, rendering surgical intervention impossible. However, Dana-Farber investigators are exploring AI applications in early detection that could lead to improved outcomes.

In 2018, a groundbreaking project led by Brian Wolpin, MD, MPH, director of the Gastrointestinal Cancer Center and the Robert T. and Judith B. Hale Chair in Pancreatic Cancer at Dana-Farber, centered on analyzing annotated images on CT scans of body composition in pancreatic cancer patients. Their findings unveiled a significant trend: patients frequently displayed indications of skeletal muscle wasting upon diagnosis.

Recognizing the need for more extensive image analysis, Michael Rosenthal, MD, PhD, a radiologist and collaborator with Wolpin, developed an AI tool to automate the reading of these scans. Since then, the tool has analyzed over 100,000 CT scans, a task that would have been nearly impossible if conducted solely by humans. The ultimate goal of this work is to identify signals—whether in blood, scans, or medical records—that could facilitate earlier detection of pancreatic cancer.

To build on this foundation and propel this vital research forward, the Clarks recently gave $1.14 million to endow Wolpin’s work in AI and machine learning, specifically targeting gastrointestinal cancers. The Clarks strategically allocated these funds, recognizing that while AI holds immense promise as a tool, establishing the necessary infrastructure requires substantial financial investment. “The Dana-Farber Endowment offers a natural avenue for AI technology,” Steve explains. “The initial capital is invested, generating income annually in perpetuity. By combining an endowment with current-use funding, we have a unique opportunity to spearhead significant advancements in this field.”

“We are very grateful for Steve and Joan’s continued partnership and generous support of new ideas and avenues of research that will propel the field forward,” said Wolpin. “The Clark Family Artificial Intelligence Endowment will help advance research to utilize artificial intelligence and machine learning to break new ground in developing better, more effective treatments and methods of cancer prevention.” For more stories about the impact of philanthropy at Dana-Farber, please visit DanaFarberImpact.org.

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Maura Shaughnessy has been a steadfast Pan-Mass Challenge (PMC) rider for nearly 31 years, raising more than $2.8 million, but one thing she loves even more than cycling is her brother Frank. Maura and Frank come from a family of cancer survivors, and they are all too aware of the need for effective and long-lasting therapeutic discoveries. When Frank was diagnosed with stage IV kidney cancer in October 2020, Maura instantly connected him with Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

Inspired by the work of fellow PMC rider Toni Choueiri, MD, director of the Lank Center for Genitourinary Oncology at Dana-Farber and the Jerome and Nancy Kohlberg Professor of Medicine, Maura and her husband, Bernie Regenauer, established the Frank Shaughnessy Kidney Cancer Research Fund in 2021. Between 2021 and 2023, $1.67 million was raised with help from their family’s donation, as well as donations raised by Maura and Team MFS.

Frank’s treatment initially provided good results, but unfortunately he contracted COVID-19 in the fall of 2023, and needed to stop treatment for six weeks while he recovered. At his next scan, his care team discovered that the kidney cancer had spread to his lungs. Given this devastating development, Frank was placed on a brand new FDA approved drug, but that too was ultimately unsuccessful.

“All we can do now is hope and pray,” Maura said. “And I am hopeful that we will receive some good karma since Dr. Choueiri is just as passionately involved with Frank’s care now as he was on day one.”

With the hope for a brighter future for cancer patients, Maura and Bernie made a new gift of $1 million to establish the Frank Shaughnessy Endowed Fellowship in Kidney Cancer. This fellowship will complement the previously established research fund in Frank’s name and will afford Choueiri the ability to hire a renowned and respected researcher to work alongside him in the lab to demystify the biology of kidney cancer, how it proliferates, and to develop novel treatment strategies, such as natural killer cells and immunotherapies.

“Maura and Bernie’s endowed fellowship will allow us to double the number of fellows on our team while also educating and fostering the next generation of physician-scientists who will continue to expand this work,” Choueiri said.

“My brother hasn’t had a lot of breaks along this cancer journey— one could say he really hasn’t had any,” Maura said. “But if we can do something that potentially gives him and those who follow him, another option down the road, that’s pretty good money spent in my mind.”

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Year after year, the Palm Beach community demonstrates their unwavering commitment to Dana-Farber in many ways including through the Palm Beach Annual Appeal. This year the community, led by Phyllis and Paul Fireman, came together to contribute more than $1 million to the appeal in support of groundbreaking scientific research and exceptional care at the Institute.

Funds raised through the Palm Beach Annual Appeal are an important source of unrestricted support—a crucial priority for The Dana-Farber Campaign. Flexible funds play a key role in programs across the Institute, propelling innovative early stage research, speeding new drugs into clinical trials, and empowering Dana-Farber to continue serving our patients’ physical, emotional, psychological, and spiritual needs.

“We have been part of the Dana-Farber family for over 40 years and because of this, we can say with complete confidence that Dana-Farber is the best place for lifesaving treatment and compassionate care,” said Phyllis and Paul Fireman, chairpersons of this year’s Palm Beach Annual Appeal. “We are proud to have led the 2024 Palm Beach Annual Appeal and are grateful for the support of our community to bring us one step closer to a world without cancer.”

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The Cancer Research Institute (CRI) has awarded nearly $1.5 million in grants to Dana-Farber in support of investigations into how immunotherapy can be used to defeat difficult-to-treat and incurable cancers.

Founded in 1953 to fuel discovery and development of powerful immunotherapies for all cancers, the New York-based organization has invested $515 million in research scientists around the globe. In 2023, it awarded a multiyear Lloyd J. Old STAR grant to Dana-Farber pediatric oncologist Robbie Majzner, MD, for his work to identify and test new immunotherapies for children with cancer. And it chose Maxime Meylan, PhD, for a CRI Immuno-Informatics Fellowship for early career scientists.

Majzner’s research has three main goals: to develop and deploy safer and more effective chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells; to explore the biology of GD2, a little-understood sugar expressed on the tumor cells of certain childhood cancers that suppresses immune function; and to conduct early phase clinical trials of immunotherapies in children.

CAR T cells have revolutionized the treatment of bloodborne cancers, but have yet to show substantial benefits in patients who have solid tumors. By studying how these cells propagate their internal signals, Majzner’s lab has co-opted molecules from inside the cell to alter the efficacy and specificity of these powerful therapeutics.

Pediatric oncologists have been targeting GD2 for more than two decades, but how it is regulated has not been well understood. Majzner is investigating its biology and how anti- GD2 therapies might be effectively deployed against a wide range of cancers.

“My goal is to utilize basic biologic discoveries to develop effective immunotherapies for children with cancer—especially those that are now considered incurable,” said Majzner.

Meylan, an immunologist and computational biologist, is researching the factors that influence treatment effectiveness in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), which is aggressive and difficult to treat.

He will use advanced imaging techniques to study the different types of tumor cells and immune cells within TNBC tumors and how they interact with each other. Using biopsies taken before and after treatment, he will document how the tumors have changed. This may yield new ways to treat the cancer.

“Scientific research is the key to finding the answer to all forms of cancer,” said Jill O’Donnell-Tormey, PhD, CRI’s chief executive officer and director of scientific affairs. “The work Drs. Majzner and Meylan are doing holds great promise, and I look forward to seeing how their discoveries will benefit patients in Boston and beyond.”

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Last fall, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute patients, families, and supporters joined forces to defy cancer at the 35th annual Boston Marathon^® Jimmy Fund Walk presented by Hyundai, which raises the most money of any single-day walk in the nation. Year after year, dedicated walkers gather on the world-famous Boston Marathon^® course for a day of hope, unity, and inspiration, fueling critical advancements in cancer treatment. The October 1 event was marked by more than 8,400 enthusiastic participants coming together to raise a record-breaking $9.4 million for The Dana-Farber Campaign and provide critical momentum to innovative scientific discovery and compassionate patient care. It was a milestone year for Dana-Farber’s signature event, propelling the Walk’s cumulative fundraising total to more than $176 million raised since its inception in 1989.

The Walk served as a magnificent capstone to the Jimmy Fund’s 75th anniversary year, and a reminder of the power of its grassroots community. Walkers, corporate sponsors, volunteers, and their supporters all played a pivotal role in the event’s success, including presenting sponsor Hyundai, which has supported the Walk since 1998.

Jimmy Fund Walk participants could walk virtually in a location of their choice or from a distance along the Boston Marathon course—ranging from a 5K to a 26.2-mile marathon—with all in-person routes culminating in a finish line celebration. Along the course, walkers were supported by more than 700 volunteers and treated to complimentary snacks and water provided by generous sponsors. Traditionally, finish line festivities take place at Copley Square in Boston, but with construction underway at the landmark site, it shifted to the Fenway Park neighborhood. There, walkers celebrated 35 years of progress with lively music, food, motivational speeches, and more within view of the historic baseball stadium.

Kristy Spears led team #MaleiaStrong in a virtual Jimmy Fund Walk in her hometown of Crestview, Fla. Kristy walks in memory of her daughter Maleia, a pediatric brain tumor patient who was treated in Dana-Farber’s Jimmy Fund Clinic. “It is the best place to be when faced with the horrific, life-changing words, ‘Your child has cancer,’” Kristy says.

The closeness and camaraderie of the Jimmy Fund Walk drew Kristy in. “The walkers are there due to a direct connection to someone who has been well-loved and cared for at Dana-Farber. After our daughter surrendered her fight, getting involved simply felt natural. It was an opportunity to give back to a place that had given us extra time and memories with our beloved daughter.” Since the team’s inaugural Walk in 2022, #MaleiaStrong has raised more than $70,600.

Each dollar raised by walkers like Kristy adds up to an extraordinary sum that will significantly impact the future of cancer care. While a lot has changed in the 35 years since the first Jimmy Fund Walk, its growing community remains profoundly bonded by a fierce determination to defy cancer—in honor of the patients they walk for, and in the spirit of those who walked before them.

For more stories about the impact of philanthropy at Dana-Farber, please visit DanaFarberImpact.org.

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In November 2023, Dana-Farber Trustee Judy Hale, Dana-Farber Trustee Karen Hale, Rob Hale, Elizabeth Hale Kendall, and Richard Kendall were awarded the Sidney Farber Medical Research Award in recognition of the Hale Family’s outstanding contributions and service to the Institute for many decades. Dana-Farber’s highest honor, the Sidney Farber Medical Research Award was established in 1968 in appreciation of the contributions Sidney Farber, MD, made to medicine and to the development and support of cancer care and research around the world.

The Hale Family name has become synonymous with Dana-Farber’s focused efforts to understand, prevent, and treat pancreatic cancer, and their philanthropy has made the Institute a worldwide leader and pioneer in this work. “It is a disease that really needs champions,” says Brian Wolpin, MD, MPH, director of the Hale Family Center for Pancreatic Cancer Research and of the Gastrointestinal Cancer Center, and the Robert T. and Judith B. Hale Chair in Pancreatic Cancer at Dana-Farber. “The Hale Family’s commitment to making an impact has built a foundation of collaboration and innovation that has accelerated pancreatic cancer research, translated discoveries to the clinic, and improved patient outcomes.”

The Hale Family’s support of Dana-Farber honors the memory of Judy’s late husband, Robert “Bob” T. Hale Sr., who was a generous philanthropist in his own right and who was treated at Dana-Farber for pancreatic cancer.

In 2007, Bob and Judy Hale established the Robert T. Hale Sr. and Judith B. Hale Fund for Pancreatic Research. In 2012, Judy made a $10 million gift to establish the Hale Family Center for Pancreatic Cancer and name the Robert T. and Judith B. Hale Chair in Pancreatic Cancer at Dana-Farber. The Hale Family’s commitment to research and care has continued across the generations as Judy, along with her son and daughter-in-law, Rob and Karen, made an additional $15 million gift in 2016, and a tremendous $50 million gift in 2021 to establish and further support the Hale Family Center for Pancreatic Cancer Research. This latest gift represents the largest single gift to pancreatic cancer research in the Institute’s history and one of the largest gifts to The Dana-Farber Campaign. With this gift, the Hale Family’s cumulative giving to Dana-Farber surpassed $80 million, making them the second largest individual donors to the Institute.

So much of Dana-Farber’s progress in pancreatic cancer can be traced to the Hale Family’s involvement and leadership. “With the Hales’ support, we are pushing the frontiers of what is possible, and we will not rest until we find cures for this devastating disease—for all the patients we serve today, and those all around the world who look to us for hope,” reflects Laurie H. Glimcher, MD, president and CEO of Dana-Farber and the Richard and Susan Smith Professor of Medicine.

While this award is embedded in Judy’s heart forever, she continues to focus on the biggest prize of all: “I am thinking big and hope to make a difference in erasing this miserable disease for everyone around the globe. When pancreatic cancer is no more, I hope that the Hale Center will have been a leader in this victory.”

For more stories about the impact of philanthropy at Dana-Farber, please visit DanaFarberImpact.org.

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Jimmy Fund Golf presented by Mohegan Sun marked another ace year in 2023, with an array of dedicated tournament directors, sponsors, and supporters across the country raising more than $6.8 million for The Dana-Farber Campaign. Through more than 140 tournaments and events, participants proved that everyone can make a difference in Dana-Farber and the Jimmy Fund’s lifesaving mission to defy cancer.

It was a particularly exciting time to be involved with the program, as 2023 also marked the 75th anniversary of the Jimmy Fund itself. Since 1983, funds raised through Jimmy Fund Golf have turned groundbreaking research into lifesaving treatments for adults and children with all forms of cancer.

“Jimmy Fund Golf is essential to the impact our larger Jimmy Fund community has had on cancer research and care at Dana-Farber over the last 75 years,” says Suzanne Fountain, vice president of the Jimmy Fund. “The funds raised from the fairways have directly moved the needle closer to a world without cancer.”

Learn more about all 2023 tournaments.

For more stories about the impact of philanthropy at Dana-Farber, please visit DanaFarberImpact.org.

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With philanthropic support from the Scarlet Feather Fund, Dana-Farber’s Kira Bona, MD, MPH, and Christopher Lathan, MD, MS, MPH, chief clinical access and equity officer and the Hadley Family Chair at Dana-Farber, are leading bold, innovative approaches that aim to reduce disparities in outcomes for adult and pediatric cancer patients. In the United States, longstanding structural inequities drive social determinants of health—the conditions and environments in which people are born, live, and work—resulting in striking disparities in cancer incidence and outcomes. As an international leader across the continuum of cancer research and care, Dana-Farber is dedicated to being on the forefront of initiatives aimed at reducing disparities and ensuring that expert, innovative, and compassionate care is accessible and effective for everyone.

In the adult cancer setting, Lathan and the Cancer Care Equity Program (CCEP) team aim to provide those who have been historically excluded from receiving equitable access to health care with streamlined pathways to Dana-Farber’s expert and integrated care. Key initiatives of the CCEP include the expansion of Dana-Farber’s community-focused patient navigators who identify and engage—as early as possible—those patients facing socioeconomic and structural barriers to care who would benefit from rapid, personalized support.

The Scarlet Feather Fund’s gift is also supporting the launch of a pilot “Ambulatory Safety Net” focused on mitigating risk of missed and delayed cancer screening and follow-up to abnormal test results. This new pilot program, planned in collaboration with community hospital partners of Dana-Farber – Merrimack Valley, one of Dana-Farber’s regional campuses serving the Institute’s largest population of historically marginalized patients, will help ensure the timely completion of cancer screening and connection to specialty care. Lastly, the gift will assist with the expansion of CCEP’s on-site cancer diagnostics clinics at Federally Qualified Health Centers.

Bona’s research has shown that children with cancer who live in poverty have higher rates of relapse and lower survival, even when treated on the same clinical trials. How pediatric oncologists can intervene to mitigate this risk of relapse is the focus of research being supported by the Scarlet Feather Fund. The gift supports Bona’s team in developing the first health equity interventions ever designed or tested in childhood cancer that target risk factors like food or transportation insecurity—a process similar to developing new drugs to target tumor characteristics. “This funding is speeding the development of a portfolio of these novel interventions,” says Bona, “and has concurrently allowed us to strategize how we will sustain effective pediatric health equity interventions once we develop them.” 

Philanthropy is critical to the success of these care and research initiatives. By supporting these projects, the Scarlet Feather Fund and other philanthropic partners are strengthening Dana-Farber’s ability to ensure that adult and pediatric patients from historically marginalized communities have equitable paths to defy cancer.

For more stories about the impact of philanthropy at Dana-Farber, please visit DanaFarberImpact.org.

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The Mark Foundation for Cancer Research has awarded Dana-Farber investigator Catherine Wu, MD, and two investigators at the Broad Institute a $3 million, three-year grant to further their research into personalized, T cell-directed cancer immunotherapy.

Wu and her Broad Institute colleagues are one of four teams selected for The Mark Foundation’s 2023 Endeavor Awards. The goal of these prestigious grants, the foundation says, is “to support teams of scientists tackling a range of urgent challenges in the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of cancer.” Since 2021, the cancer-focused nonprofit has distributed $30 million in Endeavor Awards “to accelerate progress in high-priority research areas through a collaborative approach.”

Wu is the chief of Dana-Farber’s Division of Stem Cell Transplantation and Cellular Therapies and a Lavine Family Chair for Preventative Cancer Therapies. She and her team are working to better understand the biological mechanisms behind potentially lifesaving T cell-directed therapies that kill cancer cells and tumors. While such therapies have been transformative for some patients, several factors prevent them from being more widely effective, particularly against solid tumors.

The researchers are using samples from patients with colorectal cancer and high-grade serous ovarian cancer to develop new ways of boosting the efficacy of tumor-reactive T cells (TCRs). By better understanding how T cells function to eliminate tumors, the team hopes to translate their findings into personalized and shared therapies.

“Immunotherapy has been helpful against certain cancers like melanoma, but we have not had the same success across all cancer types, and it’s essential to understand why,” said Wu. “We’re looking at several central questions: What are the antigen targets for TCRs? How do T cell clones interact with the tumor microenvironment? And what is the optimal state of T cells for lasting tumor suppression?”

The team’s work will build on their previous innovations, which make it possible to rapidly identify a patient’s TCRs and then reprogram those cells so that they are toxic to cancer cells without damaging healthy ones.

“The Mark Foundation is committed to supporting the most exciting projects in cancer research throughout their life cycle,” said Mark Foundation CEO Ryan Schoenfeld, PhD. “I cannot wait to see what highly personalized, lifesaving treatments will come from the work Dr. Wu and her team are doing.”

For more stories about the impact of philanthropy at Dana-Farber, please visit DanaFarberImpact.org.

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The Massachusetts Life Sciences Center (MLSC) has granted Dana-Farber $2.78 million to build crucial infrastructure for developing immunotherapies—novel treatments that leverage the immune system to fight cancer.

Co-principal investigators Eric Smith, MD, PhD, director of Translational Research for Immune Effector Cell Therapies; William Hahn, MD, PhD, the William Rosenberg Professor of Medicine; and Xin Zhou, PhD, received the grant through the MLSC’s Research Infrastructure Program. The funds will be used to purchase state-of-the-art equipment that will significantly expand Dana-Farber’s capacity to bring more of these lifesaving therapies to patients as quickly as possible.

Over the past few decades, the FDA has approved more than 100 immunotherapies, which have improved survival for many patients and have even induced complete remissions in certain advanced, previously intractable forms of cancer. Recent technological advances promise to accelerate unprecedented progress in the development of these transformative therapies. However, because the use of these new technologies requires highly specialized knowledge across several different fields of expertise, scientists have found it difficult to establish the cross-disciplinary collaborations needed to capitalize on these technological breakthroughs.

This challenge is being addressed through a new Immunotherapy Platform for Antibody and CAR Therapeutics Discovery and Translation (IMPACT²) research program, led by Smith and his colleagues, including IMPACT² head of research Anusuya Ramasubramanian, PhD. Housed in a newly constructed space at the Institute, IMPACT² focuses on providing centralized, accessible, cross-disciplinary expertise and infrastructure required to engineer, test, and optimize new cancer-fighting immunotherapies.

“The MLSC grant will significantly expand IMPACT²’s capacity to support multiple projects in parallel from various Massachusetts academic and industry groups,” said Smith. “Ultimately, this will enhance our ability to rapidly and robustly develop new immunotherapies that could revolutionize treatment for patients with many different types of cancer.”

The MLSC is an economic development and investment agency whose multi-pronged mission is to serve as the hub of the Massachusetts 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 Research Infrastructure Program provides grants for capital projects that enable and support life sciences research and development in the Commonwealth.

 “The MLSC invests in the scientific infrastructure required to bring cutting edge diagnostics and therapies to patients,” said Carla Reimold, PhD, MLSC’s vice president of industry strategy and investments. “By leveraging the expertise of the Dana-Farber team, this grant will enable new discoveries and improve patients’ lives.”

For more stories about the impact of philanthropy at Dana-Farber, please visit DanaFarberImpact.org.

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The V Foundation is spurring Dana-Farber Cancer Institute’s efforts to eradicate difficult-to-treat cancers through recent grants totaling $1.6 million awarded to two Dana-Farber investigators who aim to develop novel treatments known as epigenetic therapies. Rather than targeting cancer-causing genetic mutations directly, epigenetic therapies target specialized proteins that can turn off cancer-causing genes inside cells.

Kimberly Stegmaier, MD, vice chair of Pediatric Oncology Research and the Ted Williams Chair at Dana-Farber, will leverage her V Foundation Pediatric Cancer All-Star Award for research that aims to unlock the potential of a novel epigenetic therapy for neuroblastoma. This work builds upon Stegmaier’s recent discovery that a common form of high-risk neuroblastoma depends on a group of epigenetic proteins known as the SAGA complex to alter the expression of genes that are critical for neuroblastoma cell survival. Although drugs targeting SAGA are in development, none have been tested in neuroblastoma. The grant will enable Stegmaier to initiate critical preclinical testing of SAGA-targeted drugs for this disease.

Stegmaier also plans to identify effective drug combinations that can be used with SAGA-targeted inhibitors. The goal of this critical preclinical research is to validate the SAGA complex as an effective target, thereby accelerating SAGA inhibitors into clinical trials as a novel therapeutic approach for children with high-risk neuroblastoma.

Sarah Johnstone, MD, PhD, will use her 2023 Women Scientists Innovation Award for Cancer Research, a V Scholar grant, to study two “architectural” proteins, BORIS and CTCF, which normally bind to and induce structural changes in DNA in order to regulate gene expression. BORIS and CTCF are commonly mutated in ovarian cancer, but how these mutations might affect DNA structure and gene expression to promote this cancer is unknown. Johnstone’s novel research will generate cellular models to study how BORIS and CTCF mutations impact DNA structure and subsequent gene expression, and then pinpoint the key therapeutic pathways involved. The goal is to identify urgently needed new therapeutic approaches for ovarian cancer, a cancer with high recurrence rates and standard-of-care treatment regimens that have remained unchanged for over two decades.

V Foundation Vice President of Grants and Research Kara Coleman, PhD, says, “We are proud to fund projects that will change the future of cancer research and improve patient lives. We are confident that Dr. Stegmaier and Dr. Johnstone’s work will help us achieve that goal. Both researchers have brought novel ideas to their respective fields, and we are thrilled that V Foundation grants will be instrumental in driving forward this lifesaving research.”

For more stories about the impact of philanthropy at Dana-Farber, please visit DanaFarberImpact.org.

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Multiple myeloma treatments have significantly improved over the past two decades, thanks in part to the driving engine of transformational philanthropy. This is particularly true at Dana-Farber, where physician-scientists have developed new tools to address historically intractable cancers like multiple myeloma, a rare cancer of the bone marrow. Through revolutionary basic, translational, and clinical research, Dana-Farber researchers have transformed a multiple myeloma diagnosis—now patients often live three to five times longer than they might have expected only two decades ago. Despite this tremendous progress, there is still much work to be done, as multiple myeloma cells grow resistant over time to even the most potent medicines.

New treatments are developed through an arduous process beginning at the laboratory bench and ending years later with drug delivery at a patient’s bedside. What propels therapies through this pipeline is philanthropy. Paula and Rodger Riney of St. Louis, who in 2019, through their Foundation, made the single largest award supporting multiple myeloma research in Dana-Farber history, understand the distinctive power that philanthropy holds. The Paula and Rodger Riney Foundation has been a dedicated supporter of Dana-Farber and with their latest grant of more than $1.5 million has cumulatively contributed more than $60 million to the Institute.

“We are in awe of what Dana-Farber has achieved in multiple myeloma care over the past two decades,” said Rodger Riney. “The future holds so much promise. We are proud to continue supporting research that will bring forth new treatment options for multiple myeloma patients.”

The Riney Foundation’s most recent grant funds a project led by Carl Novina, MD, PhD, investigating a transcription factor called NFκB that binds to DNA to turn on the genes that produce antibodies. Abnormal NFκB regulation is a common attribute of several cancers including multiple myeloma. Novina’s team is identifying natural RNAs that bind to NFκB and is studying their effect on NFκB function. Moreover, these RNAs will be used to build novel RNA-based therapies that mediate NFκB destruction that could be developed into more durable therapies to combat drug resistance.

 “New therapies are essential to continue making progress against cancers,” said Novina. “Committed supporters like The Riney Foundation are key to expanding our research to identify new options that can make a difference in patients’ lives.”

For more stories about the impact of philanthropy at Dana-Farber, please visit DanaFarberImpact.org.

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Emily Campbell was just 32 when she began seeing doctors in her hometown of Miami for vague symptoms—abdominal discomfort and bloating, low appetite, fatigue—that were dismissed by her local medical team until she insisted on an ultrasound scan. That led to a diagnosis of low-grade serous ovarian cancer and surgery to remove her reproductive organs.

Facing the prospect of post-surgical chemotherapy, Emily was alarmed that her physicians had little familiarity with her cancer. “For the number of times I was in the hospital and the doctor would say, ‘I’ve never seen this before’ or ‘This is rare,’ I was thinking, we have to find a doctor who sees this every day,” said Emily.

Their search led them to Ursula Matulonis, MD, chief of the Division of Gynecologic Oncology and the Brock-Wilson Family Chair at Dana-Farber. After a new pathology workup at the Institute, Emily learned that she instead had borderline ovarian cancer, for which surgery is currently the only treatment option.

“It completely changed the trajectory of my life,” Emily said. “When you are given a diagnosis like low-grade serous carcinoma, your body and your mind kind of go into shock.” Learning that she would not have to go through chemotherapy was a huge relief.

But during the time they were seeking second opinions and researching ovarian cancer, Emily and her husband, Chris, realized that there’s a real dearth of information about borderline and low-grade forms of the disease, which are typically found in younger women.

“It’s really not studied enough and there are just not enough resources,” said Emily. “I wanted to know if it was going to come back in five years, or never. I wanted to know how this cancer grows or changes.”

That’s a big reason why the couple made a $1.5 million gift in 2023 to establish the Campbell Family Fund for Borderline and Low-Grade Ovarian Cancer Research at Dana-Farber. This will fund Matulonis’ work to understand the spectrum of the diseases, identify at-risk patients earlier, expand treatment options, and improve the quality of life for patients.

Chris explained that they chose Dana-Farber particularly because Matulonis had a project ready to go. “The team had clear goals for this research, and they were clear about what they needed in order to make the project come to life,” he said. “We met with the team last summer, and to see the amount of work they’d already done and see their excitement was really energizing. The biggest thing for us was knowing that it was going to move the needle.”

“We are so grateful for this vital support from Emily and Chris,” said Matulonis. “Their gift is incredibly impactful, given that only a fraction of ovarian cancer research funding is directed to the borderline or low-grade serous subtypes.”

For more stories about the impact of philanthropy at Dana-Farber, please visit DanaFarberImpact.org.

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In 2019, Dana-Farber established the Edward P. Evans Center for Myelodysplastic Syndromes (MDS) with generous funding from the Edward P. Evans Foundation. The foundation recently awarded new grants totaling $1.35 million to three Dana-Farber scientists for novel investigations into MDS, a group of blood disorders caused by abnormal bone marrow stem cells.

Benjamin Ebert, MD, PhD, co-director of the Evans Center, chair of Medical Oncology, and the George P. Canellos, MD, and Jean S. Canellos Professor of Medicine, received a Discovery Research Grant to address critical challenges in MDS research. To develop new therapies for MDS, better preclinical models are needed to guide the design of clinical trials. Ebert will use two different genome editing approaches—CRISPR-Cas9 and CRISPR-Cas12—to build more advanced mouse models of MDS to study the numerous genetic mutations driving the disease.

“We hope that multiplexed editing of genes will provide better models of MDS and that this will ultimately lead to robust preclinical studies to guide effective clinical trials,” says Ebert.

Christopher Reilly, MD, and Mounica Vallurupalli, MD, each received Evans MDS Young Investigator Awards, which are geared toward early career scientists looking to establish their own labs as MDS investigators.

Reilly, director of the Multidisciplinary Telomere Biology Disorder Program, is examining the process by which individuals with short telomeres—the protective ends of chromosomes that prevent DNA damage—develop MDS. His project will determine which types of mutations occur in people with short telomeres and how these mutations lead to MDS.

With her grant, Vallurupalli is studying mutations in the splicing factor gene SF3B1, which impair red blood cell production, a hallmark of MDS. She will develop models that systematically test which genetic factors help to overcome impaired red blood cell production in SF3B1-mutated bone marrow stem cells.

“The Edward P. Evans Foundation considers our support of the highly innovative work in Benjamin Ebert’s laboratory, and our support of early investigators, such as Christopher Reilly and Mounica Vallurupalli, as one of the best investments we can make to discover new knowledge that will enable the development of effective MDS treatments,” says Michael Lewis, president of the Edward P. Evans Foundation. “Dana-Farber has been, and continues to be, one of our most valuable partners to achieve this goal, and we are excited to see what these efforts might yield.”

For more stories about the impact of philanthropy at Dana-Farber, please visit DanaFarberImpact.org.

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For many, Thanksgiving weekend marks the start of the holiday season, with family gatherings and a spirit of gratitude in the air. Since 2012, GivingTuesday celebrates this special time of year by encouraging charitable giving on the Tuesday after Black Friday and Cyber Monday shopping. Dana-Farber and the Jimmy Fund participated again in 2023, with over 4,800 supporters across the country donating more than $1.7 million to The Dana-Farber Campaign to fund lifesaving research and care and further the Institute’s mission to defy cancer.

To inspire further giving, Arbella Insurance Group matched the first $50,000 in donations contributed that day.

GivingTuesday provides flexible funding that Dana-Farber deploys across the Institute to the most promising projects and most critical needs. Contributions help improve outcomes for patients like Tilly, who was featured during the campaign. Tilly was just 2 years old when she was diagnosed with an inoperable low-grade glioma in her spinal cord. Her parents were devastated, but upon bringing her to Dana-Farber, the family found little pieces of joy and gratitude during her time at the Jimmy Fund Clinic.

Throughout her treatment, Tilly enjoyed the opportunities to play and just “be a kid” at the Jimmy Fund Clinic, dressing in costumes, a different character for each of her weekly visits. Some days she would be Brucey the Monkey or Doctor Tilly. Some visits she would come dressed as a cow, or a unicorn, or even Elton John, and always with a box of doughnuts to share with the nurses and staff at the Jimmy Fund Clinic.

Tilly just turned 5 years old and is doing great. Her chemotherapy treatments slowed the tumor’s growth, and while she will continue to be monitored every 12 weeks for the foreseeable future, as of now her prognosis is good.

“Dana-Farber has become not just a place where Tilly gets treatment, llama cookies, and stickers, but also the place where she becomes the living proof,” said her father, Josh Danoff. “We have experienced the loss of so much, but we still have our daughter, she is still with us. And no matter how hard the day is, no matter what her physical challenges in her life may be, we will have another day, another opportunity for things to get better.”

All funds raised on this special day of giving help ensure that adults and children with cancer can go on to live, rich, fulfilling lives during and after treatment—even as a doctor, a monkey, or a glam rocker, like Tilly.

For more stories about the impact of philanthropy at Dana-Farber, please visit DanaFarberImpact.org.

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