Donald and Nancy De Brier. Photo: Shannon Cottrell
UCLA donors Nancy and Donald De Brier have continued their long-standing support of UCLA Health’s research and patient-care faculty members in the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and the UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center. Their recent gift benefits a variety of areas: Dr. Leonard Marks, Jean B. deKernion, M.D, Endowed Chair in Urology, for his ongoing research in targeted biopsy and focal therapy for prostate cancer, and Dr. Arnold I. Chin (PhD ’02, MD ’03, RES ’09) for his studies to improve treatments of bladder and prostate cancers, both in the UCLA Institute of Urologic Oncology; Dr. Langston Holly (MD ’95, RES ’01) in the UCLA Department of Neurosurgery; Dr. Eric Esrailian (FEL ’06), The Lincy Foundation Chair in Clinical Gastroenterology, in the UCLA Vatche and Tamar Manoukian Division of Digestive Diseases; Dr. David McAllister in the UCLA Orthopaedic Biometrics Laboratory; and for the Urology Education Program under the direction of Dr. Jennifer Singer (MD ’96, RES ’02, FEL ’03), Peter Starrett Term Chair in Medical Education. In the UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, the De Briers' philanthropy will help advance the pancreatic-cancer research of Dr. Timothy Donahue (RES ’09) and Dr. Sarah Larson’s (FEL ’13) multiple myeloma investigations. The funding also will be directed to the UCLA Health Clinical Innovation Fund. “During the course of our 25 years living in West Los Angeles, Nancy and I have become enormously impressed with the UCLA medical establishment. They provide quick, efficient and highly skilled expertise across a wide range of specialties. Most important, I am impressed with the fact that we have these incredible facilities in our backyard,” said Donald de Brier.
The Johnson family (from left): Haley, Gary, Morgan, Wendy and Taylor. Photo: Christine Photography
Wendy and Gary Johnson, along with their daughters Haley and Taylor, established the Morgan Johnson Gruenebaum Endowed Fund for Glioblastoma Research at UCLA in memory of Morgan Gruenebaum, who was treated at UCLA for a unique type of malignant glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) that typically occurs in teenagers and young adults. Morgan, the Johnsons’ daughter and Haley and Taylor’s sister, passed away on September 24, 2019, at home with her husband Ben Gruenebaum, at the age of 33, after battling brain cancer for almost two years. To honor Morgan’s legacy, the family started the fund with an initial goal of raising $100,000. In just over two months, UCLA received more than 230 gifts and $130,000. The contributions will advance progress in the diagnosis and treatment of brain cancer — specifically GBM — with a focus on supporting research on pediatric and rare GBM, as well as clinical trials and patient care. Morgan’s family and friends continue to garner support, which includes matching gifts from Morgan’s employer and a charity golf tournament to take place at Old Ranch Country Club in Seal Beach, California, on November 16, 2020.
The L.A. Care Health Plan has contributed more than $540,000 to support two new pediatric residency positions at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. This new gift is part of the L.A. Care Elevating the Safety Net Residency Support Program, which is intended to address the growing shortage of primary care physicians and recruit more physicians to serve the county’s most vulnerable residents. UCLA was one of just five institutions to benefit from this new initiative. Thanks to this gift, the UCLA Pediatric Residency Program will expand in the summer of 2020 to include two new residency positions.
Alan and Judi Wapner. Photo: Courtesy of the Wapner family
Judi and Alan D. Wapner, a City of Ontario council member, made a contribution to support Huntington’s disease clinical trials led by Dr. Susan Perlman (RES ’79, FEL ’80) in the UCLA Department of Neurology. The couple also raised hundreds-of-thousands of dollars by hosting a fundraiser that also will support Dr. Perlman’s Huntington’s disease research and clinical trials.
For more information, contact Health Sciences Development at: 310-206-6484
