Magee oncologist Adam Brufsky, MD, PhD, mastered much of what he knows about cancer care at some of the country’s most prestigious hospitals -- Brigham and Women's Hospital and the Dana Farber Cancer Institute, both in Boston. But he learned important life lessons about giving much earlier from his mother.
Similarly, his wife, Jill, at a young age, was influenced by a giving spirit as she watched her grandparents share what little they had to help others. Molded by those early experiences, and touched by tragic effects of cancer, Adam and Jill Brufsky recently embarked on a philanthropic mission to help find answers to the troubling prevalence of breast cancer in young women. Their generosity, while intentionally low-key, is helping to fund important research into breast cancer.
 To
the right: Jill and Adam Brufsky, MD, PhD, made a generous donation
that will support breast cancer research in hopes to one day find a
cure.
Dr. Brufsky, who serves as Co-director of the Magee Breast Cancer Program of UPMC Cancer Centers and as Associate Chief of the Division of Hematology-Oncology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, sees the impact of breast cancer on the lives of patients he treats every day. “Being a breast cancer physician is more of a life choice than a job. It is a healthy balance of two things I love – science and people. I get to be involved with research, but also see patients on a daily basis. Everyday I feel like I’m helping people and making a difference, and that’s a great feeling,” comments Dr. Brufsky, who has been with Magee for 11 years.
His wife, Jill, has watched friends and mothers in the community undergo grueling treatment for breast cancer. She hears numerous stories from her husband about how breast cancer interrupts the lives of so many women. It was only natural then for the couple to decide that vital research into breast cancer deserved their support.
With that, the Brufsky family has contributed to Magee-Womens Foundation to benefit the Breast Cancer Program’s Bioinformatics Initiative. Their gift is helping to both increase the volume and to more effectively organize tissue samples in Magee’s extensive breast cancer tissue bank. Developing this bank is crucial to advancing the work of breast cancer researchers at Magee in unlocking the mystery of this deadly disease.
The Brufskys agree that great ideas need to be funded and they feel the tissue bank program may hold the important information to prevent and treat breast cancer. They believe Magee is a great hospital (all three of their children were born there) that offers extraordinary breast cancer care.
“As we get older, we learn more and give to more causes,” says Dr. Brufsky. “My mother was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer two months before our wedding and eventually passed away from it at the young age of 54. Breast cancer affects young women like my mother who was a very generous person. One time, my sister was cold and my mother literally took the shirt off her own back to give to her. Her generosity has deeply influenced my own philanthropic decisions”, says Dr. Brufsky.
The couple instilled their families’ heritage of philanthropy in their own children. “One way we have taught our three children about philanthropy was through their allowance money,” Jill explains. “When they were younger, we gave them allowance and asked them to donate 25%, save 25% and they could spend 50%. We also hope that with our giving, they will follow our lead. One time, our son found $4 in change and he came up with the idea of donating it. We put the $4 in an envelope accompanied by a letter and sent it. I thought that was wonderful.”
Indeed, teaching their children the importance of giving may be the greatest gift of all.
OPPORTUNITIES FOR GIVING: Breast Cancer Research Fund
READ MORE: Our Commitment to Breast Cancer
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