The USC/Norris Comprehensive cancer center welcomes your support . For more information call (323)865-0700 Gift of Love
More than 350 guests attended "A Gift of Love," a Valentine's Day benefit honoring Harlyne Norris, a member of the USC/Norris Cancer Hospital Board of Directors, at the Ritz-Carlton Huntington Hotel in Pasadena. KNBC-TV news anchor Chuck Henry served as master of ceremonies of the dinner dance and silent auction, which raised $150,000 to support clinical cancer research protocols for USC/Norris patients.
David Brubaker, chair of the Board of Directors, offered a tribute to Norris, who with her late husband Kenneth Norris, Harlyne Norris
Jr., has provided generous and continuing contributions to USC/Norris.
The USC/Norris Cancer Hospital Auxiliary and the Norris Juniors hosted the evening and support for the event came from the USC community and beyond.
Second Year for Chandler Awards
The USC/Norris and the Bob Chandler Foundation presented eight USC/Norris-Bob Chandler Courage Awards during the USC home football games in the 1998 season.
Bob Chandler was a former Trojan football great, who went on to a professional career with the Buffalo Bills and Oakland Raiders. He was treated at the USC/Norris and died of
Members of the Rob Thibaut family at the USC/Norris-Chandler Courage Award Ceremony during halftime of the USC/Notre Dame game, from left, his parents, Jeanne and Jules Thibaut, his children, Angela, Christopher and Robbie, and his wife, Patti.
cancer in 1995. According to his widow Marilyn Chandler, executive director of the Bob Chandler Foundation, USC/Norris and the Foundation initiated the award to honor physicians and patients who demonstrate the same courage, strength and determination that her husband displayed during his illness.
Honored at the USC vs. Arizona game on October 3 were cancer survivors and supporters Jennie and Elgin Kwong, who is also a USC alumnus, and Ronald K. Ross, M.D., the Catherine and Joseph Aresty Chair in Urologic Research and director of the Cancer Surveillance Program.
At the next home game, USC vs. California on October 10, the awards were given to USC alumnus Gary Robb, and Marita and Leona Robb, for their continued support of cancer research. Also honored was Amy Lee, Ph.D., the Freeman Cosmetic Chair in Basic Science and associate director of basic research at the USC/Norris Cancer Center.
Honored at the USC vs. Washington game on October 31 were cancer survivor and supporter Arthur Holmes and Jeffrey Weber, M.D., Ph.D., director of immunology at the USC/Norris.
The final recipients, at the USC vs. Notre Dame game on November 28, were supporters Patti, Christopher, Angela and Robbie Thibaut, along with Donald Skinner, M.D., the Hanson-White Chair in Medical Research and chair of urology, and Christy Russell, co-director of the Harold E. and Henrietta C. Lee Breast Center at the USC/Norris.
Positive Yoga '99
Chanting led by Krishna Das kicked off the 1999 Positive Yoga fundraiser for breast and ovarian cancer research.
The Positive Yoga volunteer effort, coordinated by Susan Swan and Carol Rossi, brought together the yoga community for this event, held March 20, 27 and 28 in Los Angeles and Orange County. About 650 people participated in 45 area classes during the three days. Proceeds from participant donations and mail-in contributions totaling $23,000 were donated to the USC/Norris for cancer research.
Angels West
Angels West celebrated their annual Valentines Day luncheon on February 14 at USC/Norris to honor their members who helped raise $176,400 for cancer research at USC/Norris in the 1998 fiscal year.
During lunch, Dan Douer, M.D., hematologist and USC associate professor of medicine, updated Angels West members on Norris' leadership role in the latest cancer research. Researchers, Sue Ingles, Ph.D., assistant
Scientist Ebrahim Zandi discusses his work with Angels West members.
professor of preventive medicine, and Ebrahim Zandi, Ph.D., assistant professor of molecular microbiology and immunology, lead a tour of the Angels West Research Suite, which includes laboratories named in honor of Irene and Milt Golden, Dorothy and Dan Levey and Lillian Moss.
The organization, started 33 years ago by seven couples who had lost friends and family members to cancer, is responsible for contributing more than $1.5 million to cancer research and patient care at USC/Norris over the past six years. They raise funds through donations, events and other efforts, with an overhead cost of only 1.2 percent.
The group of now more than 200 members started off 1999 with an additional gift of $36,725 to be used for "hard-wire" access to the Internet in the Cancer Research Laboratories, essential to cutting-edge research for new scientists.
1999 Topping Dinner
On Thursday, May 20, 1999 the USC/Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center will honor researcher Arnold O. Beckman, Ph.D., during the 1999 Norman Topping Dinner at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.
Beckman will be recognized for his contribution to mankind through his leadership in innovative research in the life and physical sciences. The evening's proceeds will establish the Dr. Arnold and Mabel Beckman M.D./Ph.D. Endowed Scholarship. This scholarship will be used for students in the M.D./Ph.D. program who complete their medical degree at the USC School of Medicine and their Ph.D. at the California Institute of Technology.
STOP CANCER Supports Researchers
John P. Stein, M.D., and David C. Calverley, M.D., have been named the recipients of STOP CANCER's 1998 Research Career Development Awards. Each will receive $150,000 from STOP CANCER over the next three years, an amount matched by USC/Norris. Keith D. Robertson, Ph.D., received a Next Generation Seed Award for $15,000, also matched by the Cancer Center.
Stein, assistant professor of urology, is interested in urologic oncology and reconstructive urology. His research focuses on the evaluation of tumor suppressor genes and bladder cancer progression, lower urinary tract reconstruction in women and urinary diversion.
Calverley, assistant professor of medicine and associate director of the USC/Norris Clinical Coagulation Laboratory, received funds for his work related to signaling proteins that play an important role in the growth and differentiation of lymphomas as well as their response to antitumor therapy.
Robertson, a post doctoral fellow at USC/Norris, has contributed to the research of the role of DNA methylation in regulating gene transcription, the Epstein-Barr virus as a model system for studying the role of DNA methylation in gene regulation and the effect of certain inhibitors on the treatment of Epstein-Barr virus-associated malignancies.
STOP CANCER is a volunteer organization that helps young researchers to pursue careers in cancer research at the USC/Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center and at the Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, UCLA.
Scott Parker Golf Tournament
The fifth annual Scott Parker Golf Tournament was held on November 2 at the Pelican Hill Golf Club in Newport Coast, Calif. PGA professional golfer Johnny Miller gave a golf clinic for all participants.
The event is in memory of Scott D. Parker, son of Jody and Ron Parker, who was a USC sophomore when diagnosed with a malignant sinus tumor. He died in 1990 after a two-year battle with cancer.
This year's golf classic raised $173, 000 in support of the Scott D. Parker Cancer Research Laboratory at the USC/Norris. The 1999 tournament is scheduled for November 1.
Bernstein Appointed to AFLAC Chair
USC/Norris Director Peter Jones, Ph.D., recently announced the appointment of Leslie Bernstein, Ph.D., professor of preventive medicine, as the first holder of the AFLAC Chair in Cancer Research. The American Family Life Assurance Company has committed to donate $1.5 million over the next three years to fund the endowment.
Bernstein presently serves as the senior associate dean for faculty affairs and the scientific director of the Cancer Surveillance Program. Her research into the epidemiology of breast cancer, testicular cancer, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and esophageal cancer has earned her prestige in her field. She is regarded as one of the world's experts in studies of whether exercise can help reduce risk of breast cancer, according to Jones.
Richter Gift
To help spur the creation of new cancer treatments and hasten a cure for the disease, a Sierra Madre couple has given the USC/Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center a gift worth $3 million for the creation of two new endowed chairs.
Businessman and entrepreneur Walter Richter and his wife, Verna, say they made their recent gift of cash and real estate to aid the fight against a disease that afflicts millions of families - including their own.
"Cancer has hit our family pretty hard so the one thing we really want to do is help promote research," says Verna Richter.
Richter says she saw the suffering cancer inflicts on other families when she volunteered for the American Cancer Society.
She says she and her husband chose to donate to USC because family members have been treated here and have also graduated from the university. More importantly, they felt that in funding research at USC/Norris, they could do the most good.
John Baker, USC/Norris director of major gifts, says the Richter's gift will be used to create one endowed chair in the area of cancer prevention and another in basic cancer research.
Make a Difference
Your support can make a difference for cancer research. You can make a life income gift to USC/Norris and receive some or all of the following benefits:
- increase spendable income
- fulfill your philanthropic goals
- enjoy a substantial income tax deduction
- avoid capital gains tax
- reduce probate expenses
- provide for loved ones
- memorialize a loved one
- eliminate federal estate tax on property passing to charity
- provide for other charities as well.
For information on giving opportunities, call the USC/Norris Office of Development at (323) 865-0700