Dr. Suzanne Shusterman is named first Friends for Life Fellow

Suzanne Shusterman,MD, has joined the Department
of Pediatric Oncology as the Institute’s first
Friends for Life fellow, a position that supports
a full-time researcher in neuroblastoma, a nerve
tissue malignancy that is the most common cancer in infants.

The endowed fellowship was established early last year
by Michael and Denyse Dodd after their daughter,
Isabelle, was treated for neuroblastoma at Dana-Farber
in 2001–02.

In launching the initiative, the Dodds pledged to raise
$1 million over five years to underwrite the faculty
researcher position. Gifts from around the country –
many in honor and memory of other children diagnosed with
neuroblastoma – and the efforts of dozens of participants in the
Boston Marathon® Jimmy Fund Walk, Pan-Massachusetts Challenge
bike-a-thon, charity golf tournaments, and other events have
helped drive the fellowship toward its goal.

Shusterman comes to DFCI from Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia,
where she specialized in neuroblastoma research. At the Institute,
she will continue that work, leading clinical trials of new treatments
for the disease.

"Thanks to the dedication of the Dodds and the Friends for Life
walkers, bikers, bowlers, and others, we will be able to expand
our clinical research program in neuroblastoma and bring new
laboratory developments to clinical trials more efficiently,"
says Lisa Diller, MD, of Pediatric Oncology.

“Dr.Shusterman will be writing and conducting early-phase
clinical trials of new agents, and we are thrilled to have her.”

Published in Dana-Farber "Inside the Institute" October 13th, 2004.
at http://www.danafarber.com/images/pdfs/iti/10-13-2004.pdf
or at http://myfriendsforlife.com/temp/ITI10-13-2004.pdf