This August I will ride the Pan-Mass Challenge again (as part of the wonderful “Speedy Turtles” team) to raise funds for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Please help me support this great cause. This year I will be riding in honor of two inspiring friends, Lisa Diller and Andrew Wheeler. Lisa is a doctor at Dana-Farber and this past year was my fellow fellow at the Radcliffe Institute at Harvard. She is the chief medical officer of the Dana-Farber/Boston Children’s Cancer and Blood Disorders Center and has worked in the field of pediatric oncology for the past twenty-five years. Her current research involves the development of clinical models for sharing information from genomic testing of cancer patients as they age -- one of the most promising fronts of the fight against ancer given recent technological advances in the field of gene sequencing. She does incredibly difficult work with the kind of wisdom, grace, and expertise that I wish every family facing the tragedy of child cancer could encounter.

Andrew Wheeler is one of the wonderful friends I have made through the games of squash and tennis in my life. We met quite a few years ago on the squash court in Newton, where we both live. After a difficult but successful recovery from cancer treatment this year, he is back at his magic on both the squash and tennis courts, and it is a joy to be able to play with him again. I can only imagine the strength it takes to manage such a recovery, and Andy is one of the strongest (and also nicest) people that I know. It will be an honor to ride in celebration of his recovery.

Please help me to celebrate these two fantastic individuals by supporting the work of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute! And know that there is a special place in my heart for small amounts.