FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
March 12, 2007

Endowed Chair will honor the
late Dr. Lawrence D. Jacobs’ research legacy

(BUFFALO, NY)  Jeremy Jacobs, Chairman and CEO of global hospitality company Delaware North Companies and owner of the Boston Bruins, has provided a $1 million gift with his family to support an endowed chair in Immunology at Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RPCI). The gift was made to RPCI’s Leaders for Life endowment campaign in honor of Mr. Jacobs’ brother, the late Lawrence D. Jacobs, MD, an internationally renowned immunology researcher who died in 2001.

Jacobs family members expressed their desire to fulfill Dr. Jacobs’ vision for additional landmark advances in the field of immunology through the gift. Dr. Jacobs’ research of relapsing multiple sclerosis during his lifetime led to the development of Avonex, the most widely-used drug to treat this debilitating form of the disease.

The Jacobs Family Chair in Immunology will support innovative research led by Kelvin P. Lee, MD. Dr. Lee was named Chair of the Department of Immunology and Vice Chair of the Department of Medicine at RPCI in October 2006, when he joined the Institute from the University of Miami Medical School/Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center. His work focuses on developing new vaccines and antibodies, and advancing novel immunotherapies to fight cancer.

According to Jeremy Jacobs, his family’s gift is an endorsement of the overall research performed by Roswell Park, and specifically by Dr. Lee. "When one understands the significance of what an endowment can bring to a world-class medical organization like Roswell, the decision [to make such a gift] is an easy one," said Jacobs. "In the end, our wish is simple--we hope that this gift will make a difference."

Dr. Lee added that the gift will specifically provide flexible, dedicated dollars for studies of how to harness the power of the human immune system to fight disease. "Currently, science looks at immunotherapy when a patient has run out of all other options," said Lee. "We need to look at it more comprehensively. Can we vaccinate patients who have premalignant or very early cancer, when they still have an immune response against cancer? Can we try to boost the immune system when it’s failing, but still there? One of my goals is to expand our understanding of all aspects of the immune response."

The Leaders for Life campaign has a $20 million goal, and has raised over $12 million thus far. Endowment gifts provided through the campaign are invested to provide a stable source of annual discretionary funding for especially promising studies directed by Roswell Park’s leaders in basic and clinical research.

"This extremely generous gift joins several others that have recently been made through the campaign in support of research offering the greatest hope for cancer patients," explained Donna Gioia, Chair of the Roswell Park Alliance Foundation and Co-Chair of the Leaders for Life campaign. Gioia cited endowed chairmanships including the Lawrence P. and Joan Castellani Family Chair in Dermatology (held by Allan Oseroff, MD, PhD); the Katherine Anne Gioia and Gioia Family Chair in Cancer Medicine (held by Alex A. Adjei, MD, PhD); and the Robert, Ann and Lew Wallace Chair for Translational Research (held by Candace S. Johnson, PhD) as examples. Additional focus areas of the campaign include Cellular Stress Biology, Surgery, Pharmacology, Cancer Prevention and Pathology.

According to David C. Hohn, MD, President & CEO of RPCI, the campaign is critically important to the Institute’s future, its strategic priorities, and its ability to aggressively compete with other centers when recruiting top scientific talent. 

"The establishment of the Roswell Park Alliance Foundation in 1991 enabled us to receive endowment gifts, and we have made it a priority ever since," explained Hohn. "The success of this campaign will further allow us to seize emerging opportunities--and to weather the immediate and long-term challenges of a variable funding climate. It’s essential to ensuring that the most promising scientific ideas can flourish, and to maintaining Roswell’s international stature for attracting and retaining the brightest minds in the field."

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Roswell Park Cancer Institute, founded in 1898, is the nation’s first cancer research, treatment and education center and is the only National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center headquartered in Upstate New York. RPCI is a member of the prestigious National Comprehensive Cancer Network, an alliance of the nation’s leading cancer centers. Roswell Park has affiliate sites and collaborative programs in New York, Pennsylvania and in China. For more information, visit RPCI's website at www.roswellpark.org, call 1-877-ASK-RPCI (1-877-275-7724) or e-mail askrpci@roswellpark.org.