Fall 2025
By Stephanie Lowitt
Photography by Capehart Photography
Over the past 13 years, the Goldfarb and Rudkin Family International Fellowships in Breast Oncology at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute have accelerated scientific breakthroughs, fostered career growth through mentorship and collaboration, and advanced cancer care for patients around the world.
This extraordinary program has funded 11 fellows hailing from six different countries—Spain, Brazil, Australia, Israel, Canada, and Italy. Now, thanks to an additional gift from William and Maureen Goldfarb, this premier training program will continue and expand.
This prestigious fellowship engages a multipronged approach to supporting expertise in breast oncology. The program broadens and strengthens the talent and knowledge available at Dana-Farber by attracting and retaining experts from around the world. Fellows obtain valuable firsthand research experience during their tenure, learn how to run clinical trials, set up research infrastructure, evaluate outcomes, and more. The fellows then have the opportunity to participate in academic publications by producing original reports, reviewing papers, and making presentations. As part of Dana-Farber’s equal commitment to patient care and research, the fellows gain expertise in the clinical treatment of patients by caring for breast cancer patients in the clinic with the supervision of faculty mentors.
Thanks to past program support from the Goldfarbs, three fellows have gone on to hold faculty positions at Dana-Farber and Harvard Medical School, and many other graduates now maintain leadership roles in medicine in their native countries. This brings Dana-Farber’s knowledge of cancer care and the remarkable progress the fellows make in cancer medicine to patients worldwide and provides Dana-Farber a valuable link to other institutions here and abroad working on transformational research.
Thanks in great part to the Goldfarb’s ongoing support, the Division of Breast Oncology at Dana-Farber is internationally known as a space that fosters innovation, collaboration, and the development of new models for understanding and treating breast cancer globally. As Goldfarb and Rudkin Family Fellow, Paolo Tarantino, MD, shared, “For many years, I dreamt of joining the breast team at Dana-Farber. No other place in the world, indeed, has had such a major impact in the way we treat and conceive of this disease, and no other place in the world would have been more appropriate for my scientific growth.”
Sara Tolaney, MD, MPH, co-director of the fellowship, understands the value of investing in early career oncologists. “The Goldfarb and Rudkin Family International Fellowships in Breast Oncology have been a cornerstone of innovation and excellence—training the next generation of leaders who are advancing care, accelerating research, and shaping the future of breast cancer treatment. Its graduates are not only making breakthroughs in research, but also bringing compassionate, cutting-edge care to patients around the world.”