Thanks to the generosity of so many, the more than $3.6 million that Tim Nesvig Fellowship and Lymphoma Research Fund has generated to date is helping us advance in-depth research into the causes of and a cure for lymphoma. It is your support, combined with that of other Fund donors, that helps us make real progress in combating this terrible disease.
Every day my staff and I see patients who are bravely battling lymphoma, as Tim did. Often, they are surrounded by loving family members and friends, just as Tim was. The Fund has played an essential role in providing us the opportunity to offer greater hope to these patients. That hope comes from the ongoing research projects conducted by the recipients of the Tim Nesvig Fellowship as well as other programs supported by the Fund.
This year’s Tim Nesvig Fellow, Dr. Mark Kirschbaum, is conducting a number of studies on alternatives to the traditional radiation and chemotherapy treatments most lymphoma patients must undergo. These traditional treatments are not always effective, and even when they are, can be debilitating and result in long-term side effects. Dr. Kirschbaum is conducting clinical trials for a class of non-chemotherapy drugs that have demonstrated promise in killing existing cancer cells and preventing new cancer cells from growing. He and his team are also studying the molecular mechanisms that turn normal cells into lymphomas, and are working to determine how to ”turn off” these processes. Already, Dr. Kirschbaum has had successes in pre-clinical and clinical trials, where patients receiving these new medications showed vast improvement and in some cases, total remission.
In addition to supporting Dr. Kirschbaum’s work, monies raised through the Tim Nesvig Fellowship and Lymphoma Research Fund are supporting an exciting collaboration between City of Hope and the California Institute of Technology. Researchers on this project are targeting the molecular mechanisms underlying lymphoma and have developed a novel way of delivering drugs to tumors. This approach is one that may result in treatments that are more specific and less toxic for patients.
We believe that with additional research, we will be able to identify the most effective combination of new treatments to reverse the course of lymphoma in patients and to treat the disease with minimal side effects.
It is your financial support that has provided us the latitude and flexibility to engage in these novel and innovative approaches to conquering lymphoma. Your support has also played a critical role in attracting funding agencies and other donors to become involved in our work. In a very real way, your generosity is having a profound impact on those who come to us for care.
The care that we provide is not only clinical. It is City of Hope’s credo that serves as a guiding force in our research labs as well as at the bedside: “There is no profit in curing the body if, in the process, we destroy the soul.” Through your involvement with the Tim Nesvig Fellowship and Lymphoma Research Fund, know that you are not only affirming our scientific excellence and our compassionate approach to treatment, but as important, you are also affirming our unwavering commitment to eliminating the pain and suffering that is caused by lymphoma for patients and their families.
On behalf of all of us in the Division of Hematology and Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation and the patients of today and tomorrow, thank you again for your support.
Sincerely,
Francis and Kathleen McNamara Distinguished Chair in Hematology and Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation
Chair, Division of Hematology & Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation