Largest individual gift for breast cancer research in Dana-Farber’s history
A $20 million gift announced today from the Saverin Family will establish the Saverin Breast Cancer Research Fund at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute under the direction of Eric Winer, MD, Senior Vice President for Medical Affairs for Dana-Farber, Chief of the Division of Breast Oncology in the Susan F. Smith Center for Women’s Cancers at Dana-Farber, and the Thompson Chair in Breast Cancer Research at Dana-Farber. This transformational gift provides powerful momentum toward the Institute’s comprehensive campaign, currently in the quiet phase.
The Saverin Family’s commitment is the largest individual gift for breast cancer research in Dana-Farber’s history and their first major gift to Dana-Farber. The sole purpose of the Saverin Family’s gift is to support research relating to treatment and eventual cures of advanced or stage IV metastatic breast cancer. Metastatic breast cancer is cancer that has spread outside of the breast and to other parts of the body, such as the bones, brain, liver, or lungs. It is a treatable but currently an incurable form of breast cancer.
A world-renowned leader in the breast cancer field, Winer has made seminal contributions to improve the treatment of this disease, with a focus on the aspects of breast cancer that remain the most challenging.
“The Saverin Family’s foresight will allow us to tackle the unsolved challenges by building on the advances we have already forged, and to develop entirely new strategies,” said Winer. “Their exceptional generosity provides resources we need to further metastatic breast cancer research that is underway, and, more importantly, to open bold avenues of investigation.”
The Saverin Breast Cancer Research Fund will help to advance studies focused on resistance to hormonal treatments and targeted therapies. Advisory boards with experts from Dana-Farber and external organizations will help to steer research supported by the Saverin Breast Cancer Research Fund to achieve true advances over the next five years.
“This gift will make a profound difference in the lives of people living with breast cancer today and in the future, and we are incredibly grateful to the Saverin Family,” said Laurie H. Glimcher, MD, president and CEO, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. “Their visionary investment will make our outstanding breast cancer program that much stronger in reaching key discoveries for patients worldwide.”