We ride for the McGraw/Patterson Division of Population Sciences because their research and program work impact so many critical areas in our never-ending battle with cancer -- from detection and prevention of many types of cancer to care practices and delivery models to methods to communicate important discoveries to diverse, at-risk populations.

We encourage you to register for our new Team ... and hope that you will ride with us on PMC weekend, August 2nd and 3rd. If you can't ride for some reason, then we hope you'll consider registering as a Virtual Rider (which requires no financial or mileage commitments). Questions? Please contact Lisa at pattersonlisa66@gmail.com or Stuart at stuartrpatterson@gmail.com, or Betsy Hoffman at the Division of Population Sciences at DFCI at betsy_hoffman@dfci.Harvard.edu

Who are McGraw and Patterson?

Dr. W. Bradford Patterson, or “Brad” as he was known, joined the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in the late 1970s as the first chief of a new department, the Division of Cancer Control. Among the many important initiatives he championed, Brad persuaded DFCI to institute a no-smoking policy throughout the institute at a time when such a move was considered radical. As Dr. Jane Weeks, who worked with Brad and would lead the McGraw/Patterson Division years later, said in Brad's obituary: “It was the first hospital in Boston to do it, and the other hospitals in Boston followed suit.” She continued: “That’s exactly what Brad was like: small, ground-breaking acts at the time that ended up being really important.”

In the late 1980s, a grateful patient, Greely Wells, established a Fellowship in Brad’s name to underwrite research in ways to prevent cancer and to educate “populations” about their findings. Soon thereafter, another grateful patient, Anne McGraw, began making generous donations to the Patterson Fellowship program. Anne and Don McGraw became involved with DFCI in 2000 because of the “incredible care” Anne received from Brad. Initially, they made a substantial donation to fund the Patterson Fellowship program. When Anne passed away, Don made another contribution to the renamed Center for Population Sciences. Then, upon his own passing in 2007, Don left a $10 million legacy gift, leading the DFCI to add their names to the McGraw/Patterson Center for Population Sciences.

The McGraw/Patterson Division of Population Sciences Today

Faculty in the McGraw/Patterson Division of Population Sciences investigate strategies to move basic and clinical discoveries from research to clinical practice and then to communities, so that knowledge achieves maximum benefit for human health. Population Sciences faculty conduct research that includes identification of cancer risk, risk mitigation, early detection, prevention, delivery of cancer care, and health policy. Our project portfolio includes each of the themes shown in the figure below, and most faculty have projects spanning several themes.

Faculty in the McGraw/Patterson Division of Population Sciences investigate strategies to move basic and clinical discoveries from research to clinical practice and then to communities, so that knowledge achieves maximum benefit for human health. Population Sciences faculty conduct research that includes identification of cancer risk, risk mitigation, early detection, prevention, delivery of cancer care, and health policy. Our project portfolio includes each of the themes shown in the figure below, and most faculty have projects spanning several themes.

Many faculty are physicians with expertise in diverse medical fields (genetics, internal medicine, pediatric, medical, surgical and radiation oncology) and have joint appointments within a clinical division or department. Others have doctoral training in epidemiology, health services, behavioral health, informatics, and data science. The Division is closely allied with the Division of Cancer Genetics and Prevention and is home to several research cores, the cancer registry, and a T32 training program in cancer-focused population sciences. Members have academic appointments at either Harvard Medical School or the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health.
 

For more information, please visit the Population Sciences Division's web site.

And now I introduce to you our PMC Team PopSciCycle's Pedal Partner ... Ellie!

We are so excited that we have been paired again with a PMC Pedal Partner, 11-year old Ellie, who is a patient at The Jimmy Fund Clinic. Ellie was diagnosed with Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia B-Cell and is currently in remission.

Our Team is so inspired by Ellie, her parents, Doug and Leah and her little sister, Annie and will ride for all of them on PMC weekend. We appreciate that they have opened up their hearts to the PMC cause and want to share their story. Leah and Doug shared Ellie’s experience at a Jimmy Fund Red Sox Telethon. Please take a look: Telethon

Leah shared with us recently, Ellie was diagnosed with leukemia in March 2019, just a few weeks after her fifth birthday. She spent a month at Boston Children’s Hospital receiving chemo treatments that had some pretty uncomfortable side-effects and left her pretty weak. After the initial hospitalization, she suffered one of the most severe chemo side effects and was placed in the ICU for pancreatitis, resulting in a pancreatic cyst that had to be surgically removed in fall of 2020. Throughout it all, Ellie demonstrated her fierce spirit and determination, which is still going strong in fourth grade. She is officially in remission and taking on new challenges - from learning Spanish and violin at school to every kind of sport - soccer, swimming, basketball - to six weeks of overnight camp this summer - she is a force to be reckoned with.