Fall 2025
By Caitlin Henault
When Rob Haroun was diagnosed with Ewing sarcoma, he knew where to go to find the most supportive and innovative care environment: Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. After receiving treatment for leukemia years earlier at multiple health care centers, he and his family found that nothing compared to the care and attention he received at Dana-Farber.
“From the reception staff to the care teams, my experience at Dana-Farber has been head and shoulders above the rest,” said Rob. “It is clear that Dana- Farber is full of intelligent, responsive, and dedicated people.”
Grateful for his care team, led by Priscilla Merriam, MD, clinical director of the Sarcoma Center, and hoping to improve treatment options available to patients with Ewing sarcoma, Rob and his wife, Julie, established the Haroun Family Fund with a generous gift of $1 million. Under the leadership of Suzanne George, MD, chief of the Division of Sarcoma, the fund will support innovative research aimed at discovering the next breakthroughs in treating Ewing sarcoma in adults.
“It is clear that Dana-Farber is full of intelligent, responsive, and dedicated people.”
Rob Haroun
“Due to their rarity, sarcomas receive minimal support from external funding sources, slowing scientific progress and limiting treatments currently available to patients—especially adults who are diagnosed with cancers typically seen and studied in children,” said George. “Philanthropic support from visionary donors like the Harouns is critical to bringing better treatments to patients with these rare diseases.”
The first portion of the Haroun family’s gift will support the efforts of George Demetri, MD, senior vice president for Experimental Therapeutics and the Quick Family Chair in Medical Oncology at Dana-Farber, to test a promising new drug candidate that targets a protein unique to Ewing sarcoma. The second portion will fund innovative research initiatives focused on Ewing sarcoma—chosen through an internal grant proposal process—led by Francesca Alvarez Calderon, MD, PhD; Ryan Collins, PhD; Alan D’Andrea, MD, director of the Susan F. Smith Center for Women’s Cancers, director of the Center for DNA Damage and Repair; and Riaz Gillani, MD.
“Julie and I have been very blessed in our lives—I wouldn’t change anything even if it meant being disease free,” said Rob. “While a cure is the ultimate goal post that drives this gift, any research that slows the disease and puts it into remission would be transformational.”
Added Julie, “our commitment to this research is personal, but we find comfort in the fact that it will benefit so many patients who are facing Ewing sarcoma and other rare cancers.”