Foundation Sponsor

On January 30, 2025 Expect Miracles Foundation [EMF] hosted top donors for a private lab tour at the Robert and Renée Belfer Center for Applied Cancer Science at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. The exclusive event for EMF’s Miracle Maker donors provided an inside look at the groundbreaking research funded by EMF’s Discovery Fund.

About EMF’s Discovery Fund

From our inception in 1995 to 2006, EMF had donated funds to Dana-Farber’s development arm, the Jimmy Fund. After reaching a critical level with its fundraising, in 2007 EMF incorporated as its own charity, and, with the desire to focus its impact, created the Expect Miracles Discovery Fund to support the Robert and Renée Belfer Center for Applied Cancer Science at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute by providing incubation funding to advance promising cancer science.

The Belfer Center is a collaborative research center that works with the oncology departments and natural science departments at Dana-Farber, and in partnership with pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies to accelerate the discovery and development of the next generation of targeted and immune-based therapies while integrating academic and industry research to drive clinical trials and improve patients’ lives.

Today, EMF’s Discovery Fund fuels the cutting-edge research of Dr. Pasi Jänne, Dr. David Barbie, Dr. Cloud Paweletz, and their teams, who are on the frontlines of researching and developing advancements in the areas of early detection and real-time prognosis, and developing models for testing new cancer therapies, such as for drug-resistant cancers.

During this intimate gathering and tour, Miracle Makers were able to witness firsthand the transformative research being done by the researchers at the Belfer Center, ask questions of Dr. Barbie and Dr. Paweletz, and talk with some of the Dana-Farber clinicians, such as Dr. Ursula Matulonis and Dr. Narjust Florez, who partner with the Belfer Center to advance research to help their patients.

Tour Highlights

• In 2012, Dr. Jänne and the Belfer Center scientists, in collaboration with DFCI oncologists and others, discovered that certain non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients who were not responding to standard treatments had a unique mutation in their EGFR gene (Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor) which regulates cell growth.
• The research of Dr. Jänne, Dr. Barbie, and the Belfer scientists, and others, led to the development of Osimertinib (brand name: Tagrisso), an immunotherapy to treat patients with non-small cell lung cancer with an EGFR mutation.
• Tagrisso received FDA approval in just 2.5 years, a fraction of the time it takes in the majority of clinical trials.
• Tagrisso is not a cure. It allows the patient to live longer with the disease.
• The length of effectiveness is different in people. Eventually, the drug is no longer effective because either the cancer mutates or develops a resistance to the drug.
• Knowing this, the Belfer Center has been working on advancements in early detection technologies and next generation therapies.
• Dr. Florez is the principle investigator of DFCI’s new EQUAL Study, which in partnership with the Belfer Center, aims to evaluate the feasibility of a novel EGFR blood test, developed by Dr. Paweletz, to identify early to locally advanced EGFRm-NSCLC among healthy, non-tobacco using East Asian and Latinx/Hispanic individuals at risk for the disease.
• EGFR mutations are common among the non-smoking population, especially among women, East Asian, and Latinx populations, making them ineligible for lung cancer screening.
• The EQUAL Study will bring the screening to the community through partnerships with Boston-area medical institutions and community events.
• Dr. Matulonis, Chief Oncologist in the Division of Gynecologic Oncology at Dana-Farber, shared that she and her team collaborates with the Belfer Center to use patient-derived models to evaluate novel treatment strategies for gynecologic cancers, including ovarian, uterine, and endometrial cancer.
• This collaboration allows researchers to test new agents and drug combinations to determine if they should advance to clinical trials.
• Dr. Barbie concluded the presentation by expressing his gratitude for EMF’s critical financial support that has helped fuel the collaboration between the Belfer scientists, DFCI clinicians, and pharmaceutical partners and led to transformative advances in the fight against cancer.

Miracle Makers Witness Progress in Cancer Research

With the generosity of EMF’s Miracle Makers, donors, and sponsors, the Belfer Center team is on the brink of groundbreaking advancements in cancer treatment—offering new hope to thousands of patients. The new strategies, paired with cutting-edge technology, have the potential to effectively use early detection in cancer care to save countless lives.

We appreciate everyone who joined us for this incredible event. If you’d like to learn more about becoming a Miracle Maker and accessing exclusive experiences like this, reach out to EMF’s Director of Development, Maggie Dombroski, at maggie@expectmiraclesfoundation.org.