Lifting Others Up

This winter, I had the privilege to speak with Patricia M. LoRusso, DO, PhD (hc), the new president of the American Association for Cancer Research^® (AACR), on the Believe in Progress podcast. (1) During our conversation, Dr. LoRusso shared touching and heartfelt insights on the loss of her parents to cancer and her remarkable path to becoming the AACR president. “It was almost a miracle,” she said of going from inner-city Detroit and a small 800-student undergraduate class to being “voted to be the president of the largest and, I consider, the most prestigious oncology organization in the world.” 

Her incredible journey has spanned such a great distance due to an unbelievable self-drive and, importantly, the great expectations that mentors, colleagues, friends, and family set for her. This is a theme that I have seen time and again at the AACR.  

For Dr. LoRusso, it all began with the nuns and priests of Marygrove College who welcomed her into their labs, gave her a stipend, and helped her understand and “fall in love” with research. “There was an element of nurturing there that I think I really needed,” she said of Marygrove. Being accepted at Wayne State University for a fellowship, Dr. LoRusso “couldn’t ask for better mentors.” Working tirelessly for a cure “590-some days without a day off,” she received invaluable insight into phase I clinical trials, a field in which she remains today. “It was the experience that shaped the rest of my academic career,” Dr. LoRusso said. 

This issue of Leading Discoveries shows that it isn’t just our mentors who place great expectations on us and lift us up; it’s our community. (2) Jim Creighton funds Scholar-in-Training Awards to honor the legacy of his incredible wife, Barbara, who died from ocular melanoma. High school students give to honor their friends and family and now look on in anticipation for advancements and discoveries that cancer researchers will make. (3) The Horn family, generous fundraisers for the AACR, visited the lab of researcher Rachel Offenbacher, MD, to hear about the work their donation made possible.

At the AACR, we are honored to be part of a community of caring, compassion, and trust. With each late hour spent working with each other, each vote of confidence, or each donation, we lift each other up in this fight against cancer.” 

Mitch Stoller 
AACR Foundation, Chief Philanthropic Officer and Vice President of Development