The Dana-Farber Campaign has enabled tremendous progress in cancer research and care, inspiring nearly 900,000 donors to defy cancer. The generosity of the Dana-Farber community cannot be overstated, and that is certainly true for Institute Trustees Michael Eisenson and Monica Chandra, chair and vice chair, respectively, of The Dana-Farber Campaign. Motivated by a desire to ease the burden of cancer for future patients, Eisenson and Chandra have dedicated their time and leveraged their expertise and connections for the entirety of this ambitious, multi-year fundraising effort.
As we look forward to celebrating the success of The Dana-Farber Campaign, both Trustees have made multimillion-dollar gifts to the endeavor, each reaffirming their commitment to Dana-Farber’s mission by supporting cutting-edge research with implications for cancer in its many forms. Furthermore, these special gifts establish a lasting legacy that both Eisenson and Chandra believe will be carried on by future generations of their families.
Eisenson’s involvement with the Institute first began more than 30 years ago, when the late David Livingston, MD, and former Institute President Baruj Benacerraf, MD, approached him with a funding opportunity. A respected business leader, Eisenson helped drum up support for early stage research at Dana-Farber. Soon after, in 1991, he was invited to join the Board of Trustees.
Supporting Dana-Farber’s mission was, and remains, personally meaningful to Eisenson. He lost his mother to cancer when she was only 45 years old, an experience that shaped his priorities. “I made a commitment to do what I could to help avoid this kind of loss for other families,” said Eisenson. “Every family has a story, and everyone can help. This is the way I chose to help.”
In 2021, Eisenson and his cousin Neil Mellen made a multifaceted gift in memory of Eisenson’s mother, Velma, and Mellen’s daughter, Nancy, who passed away from cancer when she was 52.
The gift provided substantial support for the Center for BRCA and Related Genes, one of the few centers in the world dedicated to the care for, prevention of, and research into BRCA-related cancers. Newly launched at the time, the center was one of the very first institutional initiatives that was identified as part of the campaign planning process.
Because BRCA-related genes are frequently mutated in multiple tumor types across cancer types—including breast, ovarian, pancreatic, and prostate, with an estimated 10-15% of these patients having inherited BRCA1/2 mutations—supporting the center was where Eisenson and Mellen felt they could make the biggest impact on cancer research.
Sadly, Neil Mellen passed away in January 2024. Eisenson, together with Neil’s foundation, is now carrying on the legacy they established with a new joint gift that will name The Mellen and Eisenson Family Center for BRCA and Related Genes, directed by Dipanjan Chowdhury, PhD, the Svanberg Family Chair; Judy Garber, MD, MPH, the Susan F. Smith Chair; and Panagiotis (Panos) Konstantinopoulos, MD, PhD. The gift will also establish the Velma Eisenson Chair for Clinical and Translational Research at Dana-Farber, with Konstantinopoulos serving as the first incumbent. Sustained support for the Nancy Ann Mellen Fund for Research and Clinical Trial Support Within the Center for BRCA and Related Genes, the David Livingston Early Career Investigator Awards, and the Pan-Mass Challenge will also be made possible.
“Neil and I were grateful to be able to focus our investment in an area that is of deep personal interest to us,” said Eisenson. “Dana-Farber is focused on developing real solutions in the most effective way possible, including through very meaningful collaborations among faculty members of different disciplines. My family and I know that treatments will emerge more quickly if we invest in this work—and more specifically, if we invest in Dana-Farber.”
Chandra first became involved with Dana-Farber almost two decades ago, when she joined a committee supporting the Susan F. Smith Center for Women’s Cancers. She speaks positively of this experience, as hearing firsthand from the experts at Dana-Farber sparked her interest in becoming further involved. She joined the Board of Trustees in 2015, and served as co-chair of the Trustee Campaign Planning Committee during the earliest phase of the campaign (2017–2021). Like Eisenson, Chandra and her husband, Nitin Nohria, are also members of the Dana-Farber Society, a special group that honors those who have made a legacy gift to the Institute.
Building on years of service to the Institute, Chandra and her husband recently made a gift to establish the Chandra Nohria Family Chair for AI in Cancer Research at Dana-Farber, which will provide permanent, endowed support for this important new frontier in scientific research.
Over the years, both Eisenson and Chandra have worked closely with Laurie H. Glimcher, MD, president and CEO of Dana-Farber and the Richard and Susan Smith Professor of Medicine, to determine the best, most impactful areas to support, and so they recognize the value in naming a Dana-Farber Chair. Doing so honors distinguished faculty members while simultaneously providing invaluable financial support that allows researchers to test their most innovative and high-risk ideas, accelerating the chance for groundbreaking discoveries.
“Both Michael and Monica have been instrumental in the success of The Dana-Farber Campaign,” said Glimcher. “Their leadership, generosity, and forward-thinking truly embody what is so very special about our Dana-Farber community, and ultimately provide a beacon of hope to everyone striving to defy cancer. I am deeply grateful to have committed leaders beside me as we forge ahead to change the course of cancer.”
“Around 1 in 5 people develop cancer in their life, and it remains a leading cause of death globally,” Chandra said. “The impact of what our researchers, doctors, and nurses do is felt not just in Boston or New England, but benefits patients worldwide.”
That is certainly true of the Chandra Nohria Family Chair’s first incumbent, Eliezer Van Allen, MD, chief of the Division of Population Sciences, whose work in computational biology and machine learning is helping to shape how artificial intelligence (AI) can be applied to cancer medicine and research.
The Chandra Nohria family’s support will fund a variety of studies in AI, including those aiming to further refine personalized drugs and applying machine learning to analyze patient samples and predict tumor response. Van Allen’s team is also leading the way in AI safety and equity, establishing protocols that aim to ensure that results from algorithms are better and more accurate than human analysts.
“We stand at the cusp of an exciting new era in cancer research,” Chandra added. “Unlocking the power of new technologies to accelerate cancer detection, treatment, and prevention will require tremendous investments. I am in awe and so grateful that almost a million people came together to support the vision of our campaign. Together, we will Defy Cancer!”
For Chandra, philanthropy is a family affair—her daughter Reva and son-in-law Zach recently set up a Giving Page to celebrate their wedding, inspiring guests to make a gift to Dana-Farber. Their effort has raised nearly $50,000 to date. The Chandra Nohria legacy will be felt for years to come at the Institute, as each generation takes up the cause in honor of their loved ones who have faced cancer—and all of the families and patients who will benefit from these innovative studies in the future.
For more stories about the impact of philanthropy at Dana-Farber, please visit DanaFarberImpact.org.