Career venture capitalist and Institute Trustee Howard Cox and his wife, Wendy Cox, are no strangers to the revolutionary science and clinical treatments happening at the Institute. “Dana-Farber covers everything from doing the research, to the clinical trials, to getting the clinical trials approved and then getting it translated into pharmaceuticals that can significantly help people,” says Howard
When Howard and Wendy Cox saw an opportunity to further help Dana-Farber’s mission to defy cancer, they didn’t hesitate to act. The Coxes committed $1 million to establish the Howard & Wendy Cox Colorectal Cancer Therapeutics Discovery Fund, which will support discoveries into new therapeutics that promote differentiation and cancer cell death in colorectal cancer.
“This gift reflects our confidence in this world-class institution,” says Howard. “We have some of the greatest researchers in the world at Dana-Farber, and they’ve proven their ability to make significant advances in treating this horrible disease. Hopefully our gift can combine with others’ generosity to help discover more cures.”
This fund will support research under the direction of James Cleary, MD, PhD, director of clinical research in the Division of Gastrointestinal Oncology, and Nilay Sethi, MD, PhD, in the Gastrointestinal Cancer Treatment Center, as they work together to translate the cutting-edge science happening in Dana-Farber labs into real-life treatments for patients. “It’s very powerful putting together the researcher with the clinical doctor—the work that they’re doing is very innovative,” Howard explains.
While this most recent gift from the Coxes to Dana-Farber will help spark new innovations in colorectal research, Cox has been a longtime supporter of the Institute and its mission. Always looking for ways to creatively invest in what’s next in research and treatments, Cox has supported Dana-Farber in a wide variety of ways, including funding for various entrepreneurial-minded programs such as the Presidential Entrepreneurial Initiatives Fund; cutting-edge technology such as single cell analyses; and helping Dana-Farber recruit and retain world-class faculty.
“Truly, we cannot pursue the bold studies needed to spark life-changing advances without philanthropic support, and we cannot thank Howard and Wendy enough for entrusting us with theirs,” says Laurie H. Glimcher, MD, Dana-Farber president and CEO and the Richard and Susan Smith Professor of Medicine.
For more stories about the impact of philanthropy at Dana-Farber, please visit DanaFarberImpact.org.