After a distinguished career caring for patients and advancing breast cancer research at City of Hope, Joanne Mortimer, M.D., Baum Family Professor in Women's Cancers, has chosen to invest in its future through a $1.5 million endowment gift. The gift establishes the Joanne Mortimer, M.D., Endowed Professorship, creating enduring support for breast cancer research and physician-scientists.
City of Hope has chosen Veronica Jones, M.D., to be the inaugural holder of the professorship. Dr. Jones is a breast surgeon and accomplished researcher who joined City of Hope in 2015. Dr. Jones’ work focuses on hormone receptor-positive breast cancer, the most common breast cancer subtype. She seeks to better predict which patients are at risk for early recurrence and how physicians might intervene before the cancer returns.
“Dr. Jones is not only an outstanding surgeon and researcher, but also a trusted colleague and a fearless advocate for reducing health disparities,” says Marcel van den Brink, M.D., Ph.D., President, City of Hope Los Angeles and City of Hope National Medical Center; Morgan and Helen Chu Presidential Chair, City of Hope National Medical Center, and Chief Physician Executive, Deana and Steve Campbell Chief Physician Executive Distinguished Chair. “Her expertise and leadership have made a profound difference for her patients, their families and the field.”
Confidence in the Future of City of Hope
Dr. Mortimer, a medical oncologist, has been a physician researcher at City of Hope since 2007. The gift reflects her confidence in City of Hope and her belief that investing in researchers today will benefit patients for years to come.
“City of Hope is a unique environment,” says Dr. Mortimer. “We have a laser focus on cancer. We all want to provide the best possible patient care. Part of that means asking important research questions and moving new ideas forward.”
Paying Philanthropy Forward
Dr. Mortimer understands the impact of endowed support firsthand. As the Baum Family Professor in Women's Cancers, she has relied on philanthropic funding to support her primary research focus: functional imaging.
Her research uses specialized positron emission tomography (PET) imaging to better understand the biology of breast cancer and help determine which treatments are most likely to benefit individual patients. The technology can reveal tumor characteristics that may not appear on conventional imaging.
“My endowed professorship has been incredibly valuable,” she says. “Over the years, the funding has helped me test new ideas, collect preliminary data and explore questions that are not yet ready for large-scale funding. Those early efforts have opened the door to new studies and discoveries.”
A Critical Moment for Dr. Jones’ Research
For Dr. Jones, the endowed professorship appointment comes at a pivotal time. Her research had recently shifted toward understanding what drives early therapy resistance and recurrence in hormone receptor-positive breast cancer.
“The endowment will free me,” says Dr. Jones, section chief for breast surgery at City of Hope. “I was at a critical pivot in my own research, and I needed more preliminary data. This funding gives me the ability to run the sequencing I need, strengthen that early evidence and pursue larger studies.”
Confidence from a Longtime Mentor
Being appointed to the Mortimer professorship also carries deep personal significance for Dr. Jones. Dr. Mortimer mentored Dr. Jones early in her career, helping her develop the research question that became the foundation of her program.
“When I got to City of Hope, I didn’t have any grants. I barely had any publications, but I had this passion to help patients who did not benefit from standard therapies,” Dr. Jones says. “Dr. Mortimer saw that in me. Under her tutelage, my research blossomed.”
“Veronica is tenacious and truly focused,” Dr. Mortimer says. “She has identified an area of breast cancer research that needs to be developed further, and she has interesting data that deserves to be explored more.”
Over the years, Dr. Mortimer continued to encourage Dr. Jones' research and professional growth.
To be recognized as a colleague worthy of an endowment, is just an incredible honor,” Dr. Jones says. “Dr. Mortimer believed in me when I was young and just starting out, and to still have that support all these years later and to have earned the support of my colleagues means a great deal to me.”
Dr. Jones says that kind of investment can have an especially strong impact at City of Hope.
“If you invest in early career investigators at City of Hope, they’re not going to be tackling some question on their own,” she says. “They’re going to benefit from the support of an entire community, including senior researchers who will help turn that investment into something extraordinary for the field of cancer research.”
The professorship now carries that support forward by helping promising research gain momentum and strengthening the next generation of breast cancer leadership at City of Hope.