Spring 2025
By Robbie Merritt
Photography by Allie Joseph
Expect Miracles Foundation celebrated a banner year in 2024, raising another $1 million for Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and bringing their cumulative total to more than $15 million in support of our lifesaving mission to defy cancer.
This year was particularly exciting, as it marked the 30th anniversary of the East Coast Classic golf tournament, Expect Miracles’ very first fundraising event and the one that launched the foundation as it is known today. The East Coast Classic is one of many events through which the foundation brings together professionals in the financial services industry to not only fundraise for cancer research but also help advance the financial and emotional health of those burdened by cancer. Other events include the Atlantic Coast Classic golf tournament, which teed off for the seventh year at Fiddler’s Elbow Country Club in Bedminster, N.J., and the Expect Miracles in Boston gala, which celebrated its 20th year.
“I’m confident that, together, we have the power to make a profound difference in the future of cancer.”
Frank Heavey, Expect Miracles Foundation
The Expect Miracles Discovery Fund—one of three philanthropic branches of the foundation—specifically supports the Robert and Renée Belfer Center for Applied Cancer Science at Dana-Farber, which collaborates with pharmaceutical and biotechnology partners to bring basic scientific breakthroughs to market in the form of new cancer drugs and therapies. The Belfer Center is unique in that it joins scientific discovery with academic and industry research to solve the most common and challenging drug development problems and accelerate the availability of cutting-edge cancer treatments.
“The Belfer Center is empowered now more than ever to elevate its research and impact,” says Pasi Jänne, MD, PhD, director of the Belfer Center and the David M. Livingston, MD, Chair at Dana-Farber. “With support from Expect Miracles Foundation, we’re able to deepen our understanding, improve how we detect and treat cancer, and offer renewed hope to patients around the world.” Jänne is also the director of the Chen-Huang Center for EGFR Mutant Lung Cancers at Dana-Farber. “Expect Miracles is proud to celebrate this milestone year by renewing our support of Dana-Farber and our commitment to bringing hope to the cancer community,” says Frank Strauss, founder and chairman of Expect Miracles Foundation. “I’m confident that, together, we have the power to make a profound difference in the future of cancer.”