THE PROSTATE CANCER FOUNDATION MOURNS DEATH OF ESTEEMED BOARD MEMBER ARTHUR H. KERN
LOS ANGELES, Dec. 7, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- With great sadness, the Prostate Cancer Foundation (PCF) today shares the news of the loss of our dear friend and esteemed PCF Board member (Emeritus) Arthur H. Kern, who passed away on November 16, 2022, at the age of 76.
Art was incredibly proud of his career in philanthropy. He and his family were touched deeply by cancer - Art lost his 11-year-old niece Mara to brain cancer, and later both he and his brother John survived prostate cancer diagnoses. Art translated his personal experience into philanthropic action, serving on the Boards of leading cancer research organizations such as National Brain Tumor Board, University of California San Francisco Foundation, and PCF.
Art was an early supporter of PCF's mission to accelerate research toward the new treatments and diagnostics that will end death and suffering from prostate cancer. Art's treasured involvement as part-owner of the San Francisco Giants provided a natural stepping-stone toward joining PCF's life-saving community in 1997 through the Home Run Challenge, PCF's ongoing philanthropic partnership with Major League Baseball to raise funds and awareness every June in support of prostate cancer research. After several years of loyal and passionate donor support, Art himself began serving as a leader of the PCF team, joining PCF's Board of Directors in 2004.
"I knew Art personally, and he was a friend of both PCF as well as UCSF during my time there," says PCF President and CEO Charles J. Ryan, MD. "Art was always a very positive and encouraging presence and a very strong supporter of early career researchers. He was a gem of a human being."
Art served PCF and its mission with distinction through his Board service for 12 years, until stepping down in 2016. His commitment to PCF's work never waned. Art and his family sponsored 15 separate PCF science research awards between 1999 and 2021, including six individual PCF Young Investigator Awards and three PCF "Team Science" Challenge Awards. Through the generosity of the Kern Family, PCF has been able to support the prostate cancer research work of:
David Heber, MD, PhD, of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)
Peter Scardino, MD, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC)
Gary Miller, MD, PhD, of the University of Colorado
Edward Giovannucci, MD, ScD, of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
Phillip Febbo, MD, of the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF)
Eric Small, MD, of UCSF and UCLA
Ross Levine, MD, of MSKCC
Albert Chang, MD, PhD, of UCLA
Jean Tien, PhD, of the University of Michigan
Joaquin Mateo, MD, PhD, of Vall d'Hebron Institute of Oncology (Barcelona, Spain)
Philip Kantoff, MD, of MSKCC
Tianyi Liu, PhD, of UCSF
Ivan de Kouchkovsky, MD, of UCSF
Haolong Li, PhD, of UCSF
The cultivation of the careers of these cancer researchers and the medical knowledge stemming from the results of their work comprise Art's true legacy – one measured in scientific discovery, lives saved, and families kept whole.
"I met Art in the late 1990s. The gentle way he influenced people raised the passion for many in cancer science, and especially me," says PCF Executive Vice President and Chief Science Officer Howard R. Soule, PhD. "Art was a warrior for so many on the journey of cancer. We will miss him greatly, but his wisdom will burn brightly in the hearts of so many."
PCF owes a large debt of gratitude to Art for his 25 years of generosity, 22 years of direct cancer researcher support, and 12 years of PCF Board leadership. Thanks to Art's dedication to PCF, the cancer research landscape – and the lives of countless prostate cancer patients and their families - will remain forever altered.
About the Prostate Cancer Foundation
The Prostate Cancer Foundation (PCF) is the world's leading philanthropic organization dedicated to funding life-saving prostate cancer research. Founded in 1993 by Mike Milken, PCF has been responsible for raising close to $1 billion in support of cutting-edge research by more than 2,200 research projects at 245 leading cancer centers in 28 countries around the world. Since PCF's inception, and through its efforts, patients around the world are living longer, suffering fewer complications, and enjoying better quality of life. PCF is committed to creating a global public square for prostate cancer, in service to our mission of ending death and suffering from the disease. Learn more at pcf.org.
MEDIA CONTACT:
Staci L. Vernick
Prostate Cancer Foundation
[email protected]
[email protected]
610-812-6092
SOURCE Prostate Cancer Foundation
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