Title:Three generations “repairing the world”

When cancer strikes, how do we respond? For the Schweitzer and Siegel families, who have faced the diagnosis again and again, it’s a call to action.

“Cancer affects everyone, and the grief can be overwhelming,” says Paul Schweitzer, whose mother is a 35-year survivor of breast cancer and whose father sadly succumbed to colon cancer three years ago. Their daughter-in-law is also a cancer survivor, with a breast cancer diagnosis during her pregnancy with their grandson. His mother’s exceptional care at Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center decades ago inspired him and his wife Randi to give back in the spirit of tikkun olam, the Jewish principle of repairing the world. The couple became actively involved in Friends of Lombardi, a philanthropy group of young professionals networking and supporting Lombardi. From there they moved to work on the annual Gala, chairing it for many years. Paul helped to start The Men’s Event for Prostate Cancer 21 years ago, and they both helped to create Lombardi Women, an annual dinner attended by 750 women that raises funds for women’s cancer research and care. Today their children continue the tradition, with their son Brett chairing Friends of Lombardi and organizing creative events such as Lombardi Live: the Concert to End Cancer.

“Although you may be young, just starting out, and not have a lot of money to give, you do have time, energy, and connections, and those can make a real difference,” Schweitzer says. Both he and Randi follow the example of their own parents, who have supported charitable causes over the course of their lifetimes, including cancer research and care.

Last year Randi’s mother in New Jersey was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Georgetown Lombardi oncologists connected her parents, Linda and Edwin Siegel, with Martin Gutierrez, M.D., at Georgetown Lombardi’s consortium partner institution John Theurer Cancer Center at Hackensack University Medical Center, where they received excellent care. The experience inspired a $100,000 donation from the Siegels to support pancreatic cancer research at each of the three hospitals that helped navigate Linda’s care: Georgetown Lombardi, John Theurer, and Memorial Sloan Kettering. The Siegels have been longtime supporters of Georgetown Lombardi, but now more than ever, the relationship became personal.

“The gift from the Siegels was a remarkable boost to our efforts to make some meaningful differences in research to better treat pancreatic cancer,” says Georgetown Lombardi Director Louis M. Weiner, M.D., whose research focuses on this disease. His lab is making progress to parse out the mechanism by which pancreatic cancers deflect the powerful intervention of immunotherapies, which have been so effective in fighting other cancers over the past decade.

“Our feeling is that if we could understand how pancreatic cancers are accomplishing this, we can develop strategies to interfere with that and in doing so potentially make these cancers more sensitive to immunotherapies,” he explains. He is hopeful that the research is making progress, and he cites the dedicated partnership of families like the Schweitzers and Siegels to develop high-impact, preliminary research so critical to this work.

The Schweitzers point to the priceless support their family and friends receive through their relationship with Georgetown Lombardi. “Through volunteering, you become part of the extended Georgetown Lombardi family,” says Paul Schweitzer, who extends his gratitude to his own community of friends and colleagues in the area.

“We’ve been doing this for so long, and we’re so grateful to our circle of friends and clients for their commitment and support. We ask a lot of them—sometimes I’m surprised they still answer the phone when we call!” he laughs. “They’ve been incredibly generous, and they make our mission supporting Georgetown Lombardi more successful.”

As for giving back to Georgetown Lombardi, he suggests it’s a debt of gratitude they can never fully repay.

“They’ve given us more than we can ever give them. At the end of the day that speaks volumes. The things Georgetown Lombardi has done for us, our friends, and the Washington community is more valuable than anything we could offer. We give money and time and reach,” he says, pausing. “They give life. That’s the difference.”