David C. Fajgenbaum | |
|---|---|
 Fajgenbaum in 2020 | |
| Born | 1985 (age 38–39) |
| Nationality | American |
| Education | |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Immunology |
| Institutions | |
David C. Fajgenbaum (born March 29, 1985) is an American immunologist and author who is currently an assistant professor at the Perelman School of Medicine of the University of Pennsylvania. [1] He is most well known for his research into Castleman disease. [2]
David C. Fajgenbaum was born on March 29, 1985, in Raleigh, North Carolina, to a physician father and stay at home mother. [3] Fajgenbaum played football at Ravenscroft School and aspired to play college football growing up.
He was recruited to Georgetown University to play football. [4] Soon after arriving at college, his mother was diagnosed with glioblastoma. She died in October 2004. Fajgenbaum started Actively Moving Forward in memory of his mother to support other grieving college students at Georgetown. In 2005, Fajgenbaum co-founded Actively Moving Forward to support students on college campuses across the nation. [5]
He received a B.S. from Georgetown University and graduated Omicron Delta Kappa in 2007, M.Sc. from the University of Oxford, M.D. from the Perelman School of Medicine of the University of Pennsylvania, and M.B.A. from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. [6] He volunteered as executive director of Actively Moving Forward Support Network during college and graduate school. [5] While in graduate school, he married his wife Caitlin; the couple has two children. [7]
While in medical school, Fajgenbaum became critically ill with idiopathic multicentric Castleman disease. Following his third relapse in 2012, Fajgenbaum co-founded the Castleman Disease Collaborative Network and began conducting research into idiopathic multicentric Castleman disease. [8]
In 2015, Fajgenbaum joined the Perelman School of Medicine of the University of Pennsylvania as an assistant professor of medicine and associate director of the Orphan Disease Center, where he remains today. Fajgenbaum is the founding director of the Center for Cytokine Storm Treatment & Laboratory, which is focused on unlocking the unknowns of hyperinflammatory diseases and identifying novel treatments for these deadly conditions. [1]
Fajgenbaum has been a pioneer in the field of Castleman disease, most widely known for the identification of a new treatment approach. In 2014, he discovered increased mTOR signaling in idiopathic multicentric Castleman disease and began testing an mTOR inhibitor on himself to assess its efficiency. [9] Fajgenbaum co-authored a review article on Cytokine Storm in the New England Journal of Medicine. [10]
In 2020, Fajgenbaum launched the CORONA Project to identify and advance the most promising treatments for COVID-19. [11]
In 2022, Fajgenbaum co-founded the nonprofit organization, Every Cure, whose mission is to unlock the full potential of approved medicines to treat every disease possible. [12] Fajgenbaum announced the launch of Every Cure at the Clinton Global Initiative. [13]
In 2015, Fajgenbaum co-authored and wrote his first book, We Get It: Voices of Grieving College Students and Young Adults. A unique collection of 33 narratives by bereaved students and young adults, We Get It aims to help young adults who are grieving and provide guidance for those who seek to support them. [14]
In September 2019, Fajgenbaum's second book, Chasing My Cure: A Doctor's Race to Turn Hope Into Action, was published. Chasing My Cure is a memoir describing Fajgenbaum's work to spearhead the search for a cure for his disease. According to the Penguin Random House website, Chasing My Cure is a Los Angeles Times and Publisher's Weekly Bestseller. [15]
The Wharton School is the business school of the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn), a private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia. Established in 1881 through a donation from Joseph Wharton, a co-founder of Bethlehem Steel, the Wharton School is the world's oldest collegiate business school.
Castlemandisease (CD) describes a group of rare lymphoproliferative disorders that involve enlarged lymph nodes, and a broad range of inflammatory symptoms and laboratory abnormalities. Whether Castleman disease should be considered an autoimmune disease, cancer, or infectious disease is currently unknown.
The Perelman School of Medicine, commonly known as Penn Med, is the medical school of the University of Pennsylvania, one of seven Ivy League medical schools in the United States. The medical school is based in Philadelphia. Founded in 1765, it was the first medical school in the United States.
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William D. Novelli is an American executive, public relations professional, author and educator. He was born in Bridgeville, Pennsylvania. He is currently Distinguished Professor of the Practice at the McDonough School of Business of Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., where he teaches in the MBA program and founded the Georgetown Business for Impact center. He is also the co-chair of the Coalition to Transform Advanced Care (C-TAC), an organization he co-founded in 2009 to improve advanced illness and end-of-life care in the U.S. He earlier co-founded Porter-Novelli, today a global public relations firm. Prior to joining the faculty at Georgetown in 2009, Novelli was the CEO of AARP . He has been influential in American politics, especially in issues related to health and health care.
Siltuximab (INN), sold under the brand name Sylvant, is used for the treatment of people with multicentric Castleman's disease. It is a chimeric monoclonal antibody that binds to interleukin-6. It is an interleukin-6 (IL-6) antagonist.
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Mitchell J. Blutt is an American physician-businessman. He is one of the first physicians to play a prominent role on Wall Street by drawing on his medical training to identify investment potential in healthcare companies. He is the founder and CEO of the New York-based healthcare investment firm, Consonance Capital, and a former Executive Partner of J.P. Morgan Partners. He is also a Clinical Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Department of Medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine and the Graduate School of Medical Sciences of Cornell University.
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Jeffrey E. Perelman is an American businessman, investor, and philanthropist. He is the Chairman and CEO of the JEP Management holding company. He is the son of Raymond G. Perelman, and the younger brother of famed American businessman and investor Ronald O. Perelman. Like his brother, he is primarily known for his investing and philanthropic activities.
Virginia Man-Yee Lee is a Chinese-born American biochemist and neuroscientist who specializes in the research of Alzheimer's disease. She is the current John H. Ware 3rd Endowed Professor in Alzheimer's Research at the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, and the director of the Center for Neurodegenerative Disease Research and co-director of the Marian S. Ware Alzheimer Drug Discovery Program at the Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania. She received the 2020 Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences.
Human herpesvirus 8 associated multicentric Castleman disease is a subtype of Castleman disease, a group of rare lymphoproliferative disorders characterized by lymph node enlargement, characteristic features on microscopic analysis of enlarged lymph node tissue, and a range of symptoms and clinical findings.
Unicentric Castleman disease is a subtype of Castleman disease, a group of lymphoproliferative disorders characterized by lymph node enlargement, characteristic features on microscopic analysis of enlarged lymph node tissue, and a range of symptoms and clinical findings.
Idiopathic multicentric Castleman disease (iMCD) is a subtype of Castleman disease (also known as giant lymph node hyperplasia, lymphoid hamartoma, or angiofollicular lymph node hyperplasia), a group of lymphoproliferative disorders characterized by lymph node enlargement, characteristic features on microscopic analysis of enlarged lymph node tissue, and a range of symptoms and clinical findings.
Jeffrey Drebin is a surgeon and scientist. He serves as the Department of Surgery Chair at Memorial Sloan Kettering.
The Castleman Disease Collaborative Network (CDCN) is an organization focused on research and awareness of Castleman disease. It was founded in 2012 and has used a collaborative network approach to advance several research studies on Castleman disease.
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