Summer 2026
By Cait Roberts
Brian and Louise Frumkin live a full life–-enjoying retirement in South Carolina by the beach and in Boston, relishing their roles as parents and grandparents. Brian, who enjoys playing the cello, serves as a board member for Disability Rights Advocates, and, as of 2019, is living with Waldenström’s Macroglobulinemia (WM)—a slow-growing non-Hodgkin lymphoma blood cancer that is considered incurable with standard therapies.
Brian’s disease level has not progressed to the point where he requires treatment, but he does find peace knowing he’s in the expert care of Jorge Castillo, MD, clinical director for the Bing Center for Waldenström’s Macroglobulinemia at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Influenced by the rare nature of WM and risks to federal funding for research, Brian and Louise have made a gift of $500,000 to support WM and general cancer research at Dana-Farber.
We want to help Dr. Castillo and his colleagues continue to advance the science toward developing new treatments and, potentially, a cure for this disease.
Brian Frumkin
“Like other rare or orphan diseases, we know that research funding for Waldenström’s is always a challenge. We want to help Dr. Castillo and his colleagues continue to advance the science toward developing new treatments and, potentially, a cure for this disease,” said Brian.
For Castillo, the impact of this gift will reach far and wide.
“The Brian and Louise Frumkin Waldenström’s Macroglobulinemia Research Fund will help develop a nationwide clinical database—currently non-existent—to understand how WM is treated, how closely physicians apply clinical guidelines to treat patients, and whether treatment sequencing impacts long-term outcomes in patients with WM,” said Castillo. “With what we learn from this effort, we will be better informed to develop safer and more effective treatment options, aiming at curing WM.”
Brian and Louise’s family has also been impacted by cancer, leading them to designate a portion of their gift toward research focused on other cancers, as well.
“We’re directing half of our donation to the general research fund to allow Dana-Farber the flexibility to pursue areas of study that are under-funded or subject to federal cutbacks in private research grants,” said Brian. “We recognize the devastation this disease causes and want to do what we can to help develop treatments and alleviate some of the suffering and anxiety that people diagnosed with cancer may experience.”