Impact - The Jimmy Fund

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A community unites: Palm Beach raises $1.3 million for DFCI Once again, Dana-Farber’s numerous friends and supporters in Palm Beach, Fla., joined together to show their enduring commitment to conquering cancer through a series of benefit events last winter. This 2010 fundraising season was highlighted by the 19th annual Discovery Ball, where it was announced that $1.3 million had been raised toward the Institute’s cancer care and research initiatives. “For 19 years, the Palm Beach community has exhibited a passionate connection to Dana-Farber’s lifesaving mission,” said Institute President and CEO Edward J. Benz Jr., MD. “On behalf of everyone at DFCI—most especially our patients and their families—I extend my heartfelt gratitude for their lasting generosity.” The season commenced Jan. 13 at a Kick-off Party held at the Mar-a-Lago Club, hosted and underwritten by Discovery Ball Vice Chair Patrick Park. The evening featured delicious cocktails and hors d’oeuvres, as well as an informal fashion presentation of Naeem Khan’s Spring 2010 collection, presented by Neiman Marcus. The ball celebrations got underway Feb. 18 as bronze-level donors gathered at the homes of hosts Phyllis and Paul Fireman, Kate Ford and Frank Chopin, Sydell Miller and Phil Zieky, and Tom Quick for a series of intimate Pre-Ball dinners. On Feb. 19, the ninth annual Breakfast with the Doctors event, hosted and underwritten by Institute Trustee Judie Schlager, her husband, Larry, and Vicki and Arthur Loring, was held at the Palm Beach Country Club. A panel comprised of top Dana-Farber physician-scientists provided recent updates on significant research breakthroughs and answered questions posed by the attendees. The next night, Co-chairs Sheila Palandjian, Institute Trustee Peter Palandjian, and Leon Palandjian welcomed 350 guests to the elegant Discovery Ball in the Venetian Ballroom at The Breakers. Attendees gathered to dine, dance, and celebrate their fundraising success amidst a gorgeous décor of elegant white flowers and lively music played by the Greg Denard Orchestra. Beautiful crystal water pitchers, compliments of Tiffany & Co., provided attendees with a special remembrance of the evening. The season culminated March 16 with the Major Donor Dinner, hosted by former Trustee James W. Harpel, where event chairs, sponsors, and major silverlevel donors toasted the end of another very successful season. n Left to right: Chairs of the Discovery Ball and Grand Patrons, the Palandjian family—Minou, Institute Trustee Peter, Sheila, Leon, and Tracy—celebrate a successful fundraising season. Discovery Ball Dinner Chair Bonnie Dwares and her husband, Donald, an Institute trustee, are perennial Palm Beach supporters. Silver Donor Tom Quick hosted a Pre-Ball Dinner. Major Donor Dinner Chair James W. Harpel served as Grand Patron of the Discovery Ball. Gold Donors Frank Chopin and Kate Ford opened up their home for a Pre-Ball Dinner. Grand Patrons Howard Kessler and his wife, Michele, an Institute trustee, served as Honorary Chairs of the Discovery Ball. Grand Benefactors and Pre-Ball Dinner Hosts Phyllis and Paul Fireman will co-chair the 2011 Discovery Ball. Gold Donors Judie Schlager (second from left), an Institute trustee, her husband, Larry (left), and Vicki and Arthur Loring hosted the annual Breakfast with the Doctors event. Corporate Platinum Donor Tiffany & Co.’s Rebecca Brewer (left) and Gina and Jeff Sabean celebrate the Discovery Ball’s success. Silver Donors and Pre-Ball Dinner Hosts Sydell Miller and Phil Zieky enjoy the evening’s festivities. Patrick Park (pictured with Nathalie Fernandez) held two titles: Discovery Ball Vice Chair and Kick-off Party Chair. 4 Impact SPRING 2010
Follow the Jimmy Fund on Twitter and Facebook. Foundation augments pediatric brain tumor program with new support In 2007, the founding families of the Pediatric Low Grade Astrocytoma (PLGA) Foundation supported the creation of a program at DFCI for what is believed to be the first coordinated effort focusing on PLGAs, with a five-year objective of identifying molecular targets that can be treated with targeted therapies. Today, the PLGA Foundation is renewing that commitment with two additional grants totaling $501,529 in support of Mark Kieran, MD, PhD, director of Pediatric Medical Neuro-Oncology, and to fund a pathology research scientist post, currently held by Benjamin Rich, MD, under the direction of Charles Stiles, PhD, co-chair of the Department of Cancer Biology. “PLGAs are the most common brain tumor in children, but there has not been a change in frontline treatment for more than 25 years.” — Andrew Janower Left to right: The PLGA Foundation’s John Ragnoni, DFCI’s Mark Kieran, MD, PhD, and Charles Stiles, PhD, Ken Gainey and Andrew Janower of the PLGA Foundation, and DFCI’s Deborah Goff, PhD, discuss the future of PLGA research at Dana-Farber. PLGAs are slow-growing brain tumors, from which more than 70 percent of patients survive. However, recurrence is common, and repeated cycles of treatment have a high likelihood of causing growth and cognitive abnormalities. Rich will work alongside DFCI’s Keith Ligon, MD, PhD, director of the Dana-Farber/ Brigham and Women’s Neuro-Oncology Living Tissue Bank, to map genomic characterizations of tumor samples acquired through the PLGA program’s national and international partnerships. These partnerships will prove vital in helping to gather thousands of new tissue samples and lead to future recruitment of patients into clinical trials to test new targeted therapeutics. “PLGAs are the most common brain tumor in children, but there has not been a change in frontline treatment for more than 25 years,” said Foundation President Andrew Janower. “By genotyping these tumor samples, we can find the genetic mutations that drive this cancer, providing researchers and clinicians with the information needed to develop more effective and less toxic targeted therapies.” Concurrently, Kieran is directing a multi-institutional clinical trial for children with recurrent or progressive PLGAs. The latest additional support from the PLGA Foundation will allow Kieran to focus on overcoming regulatory hurdles for current and pending clinical trials, as well as continuing to acquire tissue samples with the goal of creating a comprehensive LGA tissue registry. “For the first time, we are developing treatments that target some known mutations that spur certain PLGA tumors,” said Kieran. “Instead of treating young children with toxic radiation and chemotherapy, we will be able to use these targeted drugs to stop just the mutated proteins, while leaving all the healthy cells alone.” n On the agenda: A new model of cancer research The Dana-Farber Visiting Committees, consisting of Institute trustees and business and community leaders who share a passionate dedication to the Institute, gathered for their sixth annual meeting Nov. 19 to reflect on DFCI’s “New Model of Cancer Research—5 Years On.” The Visiting Committee for the Women’s Cancers Program met separately Oct. 21. To kick off the symposium, a dinner was held at The Colonnade Hotel in Boston, featuring keynote speaker Julio Frenk, MD, MPH, PhD, dean of the Faculty, Harvard School of Public Health (left, with his wife, Felicia Marie Knaul, PhD, and Institute President and CEO Edward J. Benz Jr., MD). Frenk, the T and G Angelopoulos Professor of Public Health and International Development at HSPH, is also the former Minister of Health of Mexico. The next day, Visiting Committees for the Gastrointestinal Cancer Center, Hematologic Oncology, Jimmy Fund, Lank Center for Genitourinary Oncology, and Lowe Center for Thoracic Oncology convened in a Joint Plenary Session. The group discussed Dana-Farber’s accomplishments and next steps in its war on cancer through an open dialogue, moderated by Institute Trustee Alan Hirschfield, with Benz and Chief Scientific Officer Barrett Rollins, MD, PhD. The committees then met to hear about updates, discoveries, and challenges in their respective disease and program areas. The Greenwall Foundation supports study into ethics and clinical trials Dana-Farber’s ultimate mission is to conquer cancer, AIDS, and related diseases, as well as the fears that they engender. Clinical research is integral to achieving this vision, and Institute leaders have long stipulated that this research be done in the most ethical way possible. To further support important clinical research, the Greenwall Foundation recently named Dana- Farber’s Steven Joffe, MD, MPH, as a Greenwall Faculty Scholar. This $350,000 award will fund his research analyzing the ethical challenges that arise in conducting clinical trials. “The Greenwall Faculty Scholars Board is pleased that Steven Joffe has been selected,” said Bernard Lo, MD, director of the Greenwall Faculty Scholars Program. “He has already carried out a distinguished scholarship regarding research ethics, and we are confident that this award will allow him to develop new lines of research in bioethics.” Joffe aims to systematically analyze the ways in which individuals and Steven Joffe, MD, MPH, studies the ethical challenges that arise in conducting clinical investigations. organizations are held responsible for their actions and decisions in clinical studies, focusing on two important players in clinical trials: principal investigators and institutional review boards. “This grant allows me to explore an overarching theme in my work: accountability,” said Joffe. “It is an important opportunity to tie together all of my research from the past 10 years, while also shaping the direction of my research for the next 10.” n Impact SPRING 2010 5
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Impact - The Jimmy Fund

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