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When Stephen J. Forman, M.D., attended his first City of Hope Bone Marrow Transplant Reunion in 1978, only one patient and his family were there, along with a few nurses and doctors.

Today, thousands of survivors and their families return to City of Hope each spring to reunite with the caregivers who saved their lives.

“Since cancer is a thief that attempts to rob patients of their lives and their dignity, trying to give them back their lives — and their dignity — is the essence of the care here,” said Forman, chair of the Department of Hematology & Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation and holder of the Francis and Kathleen McNamara Distinguished Chair in Hematology and Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation.

Forman joined City of Hope’s transplant program as a young staff physican only two years after its inception. He began directing the program in 1987, and under his visionary leadership, the department flourished, advancing clinical care and laboratory research that helped make transplantation safer, more successful and available to more patients. He credits the department’s success not only to physicians and scientists, but especially to nurses, who are involved in every aspect of a patient’s care.

At the same time, bone marrow transplantation evolved from an investigational procedure to a trusted standard of care for patients suffering from leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma. Thanks to continuing refinements, this therapy now can be used on patients ranging from infants to the elderly.

An international leader in hematologic malignancy and bone marrow transplantation, Forman co-edits one of the seminal textbooks for scientists and health-care professionals, Thomas’ Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation.

Since 1992, Forman has been voted one of the Best Doctors in America. He also is the principal investigator of a five-year, $11.5 million Specialized Program of Research Excellence (SPORE) grant from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) to improve the detection and treatment of Hodgkin’s and non-Hodgkin’s lymphomas, as well as a five-year, $15.2 million NCI bone marrow transplantation program project grant.

One of Forman’s proudest accomplishments was fostering a relationship with the Los Angeles Dodgers, which led the creation of ThinkCure!, benefiting research at City of Hope and Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.

In April, Forman will host City of Hope’s 35th annual Bone Marrow Transplant Reunion. He will welcome back patients whose lives he and his colleagues have helped restore.

“Patients who are not well enough to come to the reunion often watch it from their hospital windows and say, ‘I want to be there next year,’” Forman said.

Remembering those faces at the windows helps Forman and his colleagues return to their laboratories and clinics with a renewed sense of urgency, trusting that next year even more patients will be joining them at the reunion.

More Faces of Hope >>