The Future of Medicine is Here
An ambitious fundraising challenge to bolster the School’s
future in research, health care and education will propel those
missions for years to come.
Thirty-seven dollars and fifteen cents was a small fortune to Josh
Lowenstein. After all, at age seven it took him and his younger
brothers nearly a year to save that much of their allowances. While
many kids might trade their riches for an Indiana Pacers jersey
or tickets to a Harry Potter film, the Lowenstein brothers gave
theirs to the Indiana University School of Medicine for medical
research. Their hope was to help find a cure for their grandmother’s
cancer. The crumpled bills and coins were tucked inside a Band-Aid
tin, and the hand-written note they directed to Patrick Loehrer,
MD, the B. Kenneth Wiseman Professor of Medicine and professor of
medicine, clearly emphasized their intent: “Dear Dr. Pat,
My brothr’s and I are sending thie’s mony from our charete
box to help cansre research.” Josh
In 1997 the School of Medicine launched a fundraising campaign
themed Indiana. The Future of Medicine is Here, which concluded
this past June. The campaign inspired many generous people, like
the young Lowensteins, to come forward and open their “charity
boxes” to advance medical research, education and patient
care. The School’s campaign goal was to raise $290 million;
however, the bar was quickly raised as alumni, faculty, foundations,
corporations and the community offered gifts and grants. Campaign
funding approached $375 million, bolstering faculty endowments,
student scholarships, medical facilities, and educational and research
programs.
One such program is Dr. Loehrer’s research in thymic carcinoma,
the cancer that ultimately took the life of Josh’s grandmother
in 1998. Support for cancer research was a campaign priority which
resulted in several gifts to Loehrer’s work in thymic malignancies.
These funds have now reached half a million dollars and have helped
him and his colleagues discover molecular targets and novel therapy
for this rare disease. Dr. Loehrer’s work uses proteomics
and genomic analysis to better define the detection, etiology and
treatment of thymic tumors.
Campaign funds are sustaining the research and educational initiatives
of many faculty. Thirty-six new endowed chairs and twenty-eight
new endowed professorships have been established, which have helped
retain exceptional faculty and recruit national leaders to the School
of Medicine. A hundred new student scholarships help entice the
most accomplished students to Indiana. And the design and construction
of the Research II Building – including the Paul and Carole
Stark Neurosciences Research Institute – was set in motion
by the School’s generous benefactors.
The initiatives taking place at the School are as ambitious as
the task to improve human health is challenging. Fortunately there
are the Josh Lowensteins of this world, who are confident that supporting
medical research and education saves lives. Because of the support
that Josh and donors like him have demonstrated, IUSM faculty are
accelerating the pace of new knowledge, medical discoveries and
patient care.
At the Indiana University School of Medicine, you just never know
the impact that $37.15 can have on the future.
Anita Day is communications director for IUSM’s Office
of Gift Development.
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