Jane and Stuart Weitzman
With a first-time gift to Weill Cornell Medicine, Jane and Stuart Weitzman and family are helping to advance new personalized treatments for patients with T-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma. The family’s gift supports research led by Dr. Jia Ruan (M.D. ’99), a professor of clinical medicine, and a member of the Sandra and Edward Meyer Cancer Center at Weill Cornell Medicine.
“We made this gift in honor of Dr. Ruan, who was able to help me when every treatment tried by others failed,” says Mr. Weitzman, a shoe designer, who was diagnosed with cancer in 2021. “Someone as brilliant, perceptive and compassionate as Dr. Ruan should be given every opportunity to use her talent and ability to help those with T-cell lymphoma at Weill Cornell Medicine and hopefully – with her research – around the world.”
A renowned clinical investigator, Dr. Ruan specializes in treating patients with lymphoma. The generous philanthropy from the Weitzman family provides vital support to develop an innovative patient care and research program for patients with T-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
When Mr. Weitzman was under her care, Dr. Ruan and her team focused on treating his cancer while restoring his quality of life. “The patient-relations staff, the nurses on the oncology ward and the occupational and physical therapists at the medical center were all outstanding,’’ says Mr. Weitzman. “They and Dr. Ruan helped me return to playing sports and engaging in all of the other activities that had become – and thankfully are once again – part of my life.”
Support from the Weitzman family has already played a critical role in advancing the work of Dr. Ruan and her collaborators. Earlier this year, a study published in the journal Blood demonstrated the use of a novel treatment that made chemotherapy more effective for patients with a certain type of T-cell lymphoma. The study, led by Dr. Ruan, was a collaboration involving multiple investigators at Weill Cornell Medicine and other colleagues nationwide.
“I am deeply grateful for the Weitzmans’ generous philanthropy and thrilled for this extraordinary opportunity to work with talented multidisciplinary teams at Weill Cornell Medicine and beyond to translate cancer research discoveries to promising treatments for patients,” says Dr. Ruan.
