Spring 2025
By Kathy Clute
Together, we are defying cancer
Because you believe in us, support us, and invest in us, together we have made stunning leaps forward in diagnosing, treating, and understanding cancer.
The Dana-Farber Campaign came to a successful close on Sept. 30, 2024, after nearly a million people in all 50 states and 117 countries donated a record-breaking $2.5 billion to defy cancer. Your remarkable generosity has funded paradigm-shifting research, novel treatments, new world-class facilities, additional clinical trials, and many ambitious initiatives that lessen the burden of cancer for patients and their families here and around the globe.
The seven-year Dana-Farber Campaign was one of the largest fundraising efforts ever in the U.S. devoted entirely to cancer, and it reflected the vision and strategic priorities of President Emerita Laurie H. Glimcher, MD, who stepped down as president and CEO last fall. “Dr. Glimcher’s emphasis on priorities to transform the cancer care and research landscape were foundational to the campaign,” said Institute Trustee and Campaign Chair Michael Eisenson, who led the campaign in partnership with Trustee and Campaign Vice Chair Monica Chandra. “And it will shape Dana-Farber and the field of oncology for decades to come.”
The campaign inspired more than 2.3 million gifts from 928,000 donors, including 1.5 million gifts of under $100 from Jimmy Fund supporters and fundraisers. The largest single contributor to the campaign was the Pan-Mass Challenge, giving $425 million raised via 2.2 million gifts since 2017.
The Dana-Farber Campaign by the numbers:
2.3 million gifts
928,000+ donors
1.5 million gifts under $100
100% participation by the Board of Trustees
100% participation by senior faculty and staff
18 new centers and programs
49 endowed positions
3 new patient care facilities
32.5% increase in clinical trials
Highlights of The Dana-Farber Campaign
Our research led to FDA approval of the first epigenetic drug to treat solid tumors, which will aid in the development of other epigenetic drugs.
We are caring for more people with cancer. Patient volume has grown by 51% since 2017.
Clinical trials have grown by 32.5 %, with more than 1,100 active trials underway today.
The Cancer Care Equity Program more than doubled in size, allowing support for more patients from historically marginalized and medically underserved communities.
We opened three new world-class patient care facilities in Massachusetts—in the Merrimack Valley, Chestnut Hill, and Foxborough—that allow patients to receive the best in cancer care closer to home.
We launched the Centers for Early Detection and Interception, a first-of-its-kind integrated clinic to detect precancerous conditions early and to prevent cancer from developing in individuals at higher risk for the disease.
We earned our fifth consecutive Magnet® designation from the American Nurses Credentialing Center, a recognition of our high-quality care and our commitment to nursing excellence. Fewer than 1% of the nation’s hospitals have achieved Magnet status five times in a row.
We developed an artificial intelligence tool that can determine from routine radiology reports whether lung cancer is present and if it is responding to treatment, which could facilitate delivery of precision medicine at scale.
To learn more about all our progress thanks to your support, visit DefyCancer.org.
