More than 1,000 people gathered by the waterfront on an evening in early June forthe one hundred, an annual gala celebrating those who play an active role in the fight against cancer.
Santander, the bank formerly known as Sovereign, was among the honorees that evening, having pledged more than $1 million over the course of five years to the Mass. General Cancer Center in the spring of 2013. For its contribution, Santander was recognized as a philanthropist.
“We feel extremely honored and extremely happy. We’re not only helping a noble cause, but to receive this honor, we felt really overwhelmed. We were not expecting that, to be honest with you,” said Eduardo Garrido, director of Santander Universities.
The Santander Hematology/Oncology Fellowship Program Fund will support fellows conducting research in the laboratories at Massachusetts General Hospital, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University.
The money comes at exactly the right time, too, said Dr. David Ryan, chief of hematology and oncology at Massachusetts General Hospital.
Hospitals have a problem bankers should be able to sympathize with: declining revenues and shrinking margins. And those margins are what would typically be used to support research at an academic medical center like MGH. On top of that, funding from the National Cancer Institute has not kept pace with inflation, and the organization has dropped its funding for critical investigators.
“It comes at a time when government funding has slowed, and what’s coming out of the spigot has really slowed in terms of clinical research,” Ryan said.
“People are successfully making the jump from research fellowship into clinical faculty, and doing so in a way that they’re doing real clinical research that could potentially impact patients in a very positive way,” he said. “One of the fellows who was funded last year successfully completed her fellowship, was able to join the junior faculty at Mass. General and is conducting critical trials in lung cancer. That would not have happened without Santander’s support.”
Santander also committed $150,000 over three years to the Friends of the Mass. General Cancer Center. That money will fund programs aimed at improving the quality of life for people going through cancer treatment, from music therapy to classes for parenting through difficult times.
“Those are the kinds of support programs, which a place like Mass. General can do, that are critical to the wellbeing of our patients,” Ryan said. “They’ve been a real partner with the community …We’ve been incredibly thankful for their support and generosity.”
Email: lalix@thewarrengroup.com
