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David Fajgenbaum

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David C. Fajgenbaum
Fajgenbaum in 2020
Born1985 (age 38–39)
NationalityAmerican
Education
Scientific career
FieldsImmunology
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]

Early life and education

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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]

Research

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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]

Books

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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]

Select awards and honors

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  • 2006 Good Works Team Selection, American Football Coaches Association[16]
  • 2007 BRICK Award, Do Something Organization[17]
  • 2007 Joseph L. Allbritton Fellowship, Oxford University, Georgetown University President's Office.[18]
  • 2007 First-team Academic All-American, USA Today[19]
  • 2008 21st Century Gamble Scholarship, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine[20]
  • 2008 Make it Matter Story of the Month Reader's Digest[5]
  • 2012 Welcome Back Award: Community Service, Eli Lilly & National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare[21]
  • 2013 Distinguished Service Award, University of Colorado[22]
  • 2015 30 Under 30 List, Healthcare, Forbes Magazine[23]
  • 2015 RARE Champion of Hope – Science, Global Genes[24]
  • 2016 Young Friends Atlas Award, World Affairs Council of Philadelphia[25]
  • 2016 Fellow, College of Physicians of Philadelphia[26]
  • 2016 RareVoice Award: Federal Advocacy – Patient Advocate, EveryLife Foundation & Rare Disease Legislative Advocates[27]
  • 2017 100 Great Healthcare Leaders to Know, Becker's Hospital Review[28]
  • 2018 Young Investigators Draft Awardee, Uplifting Athletes[29]
  • 2020 Joseph Wharton Award, Wharton Club of DC[30]
  • 2022 Janet Davison Rowley Patient Impact Research Award, Cures Within Reach[31]
  • 2022 Service to Science Award, National Disease Research Interchange[32]
  • 2022 40 Under 40, Philadelphia Business Journal[33]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Our Faculty >> David C. Fajgenbaum, MD, MBA, MSc, FCPP". University of Pennsylvania. Retrieved 20 July 2019.
  2. ^ Couzin-Frankel, Jennifer (2016-07-11). "A young doctor fights to cure his own rare, deadly disease". Science. Retrieved 20 July 2019.
  3. ^ Thomas, Katie (February 4, 2017). "His Doctors Were Stumped. Then He Took Over". New York Times. Retrieved 20 July 2019.
  4. ^ "2006 Football Roster - David Fajgenbaum". Georgetown Football. Retrieved 20 July 2019.
  5. ^ a b c Wescott, Gail Cameron (2010-09-28). "Grief Relief: The National Students of Ailing Mothers and Fathers Support Network". Reader's Digest. Retrieved 20 July 2019.
  6. ^ "David C. Fajgenbaum, MD, MBA, MSc, FCPP". Perelman School of Medicine University of Pennsylvania. Retrieved 20 July 2019.
  7. ^ "VIDEO: 6abc congratulates Mr. and Mrs. Fajgenbaum". 6abc Action News. 6abc. 2014-05-25. Retrieved 20 July 2019.
  8. ^ Couzin-Frankel, Jennifer (2016-07-11). "A young doctor fights to cure his own rare, deadly disease". Science. Science Magazine. Retrieved 20 July 2019.
  9. ^ Fajgenbaum, David (2018). "Pi3k/Akt/Mtor Pathway Activity Is Increased in Lymph Node Tissue from Idiopathic Multicentric Castleman Disease Patients with Tafro Syndrome". Blood. 132 (Supplemental 1): 1121. doi:10.1182/blood-2018-99-118434. Retrieved 20 July 2019.
  10. ^ Fajgenbaum, David (2020). "Cytokine storm". NEJM. 383 (23): 2255–2273. doi:10.1056/NEJMra2026131. PMC 7727315.
  11. ^ Prior, Ryan (2020-06-28). "After saving his own life with a repurposed drug, a professor reviews every drug being tried against Covid-19. Here's what he's found". CNN. UCNN. Retrieved 20 January 2023.
  12. ^ Weintraub, Karen (2022-09-18). "New uses for old drugs? Every Cure offers hope for people with rare diseases". USA Today. Retrieved 20 January 2023.
  13. ^ "CGI2022: Getting Unstuck - Dr. David Fajgenbaum". YouTube. Clinton Global Initiative. 2022-09-18. Retrieved 20 January 2023.
  14. ^ "We Get It: Book for Grieving Young Adults". Heal Grief. 2017-06-11. Retrieved 20 July 2019.
  15. ^ "Chasing My Cure A DOCTOR'S RACE TO TURN HOPE INTO ACTION; A MEMOIR By DAVID FAJGENBAUM". Penguin Random House. Retrieved 20 January 2023.
  16. ^ "Georgetown's David Fajgenbaum Named to AFCA Good Works Team". GU Hoyas. GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS. Retrieved 20 July 2019.
  17. ^ "2007 BRICK Award Winner: David Fajgenbaum". How Stuff Works. 2007-02-22. Retrieved 20 July 2019.
  18. ^ "David C. Fajgenbaum". Perelman School of Medicine University of Pennsylvania. University of Pennsylvania. Retrieved 20 July 2019.
  19. ^ "Georgetown's Fajgenbaum Named to All-USA College Academic First Team". GU Hoyas. Georgetown University. Retrieved 20 July 2019.
  20. ^ "LDI SENIOR FELLOW David Fajgenbaum, MD, MBA, MSc". Penn LDI. University of Pennsylvania. Retrieved 20 July 2019.
  21. ^ "Welcome Back Awards Recognize Outstanding Contributions in the Fight Against Depression". Lilly. Eli Lilly and Company. Retrieved 20 July 2019.
  22. ^ "Commencement address asks, 'How will you respond when your moment comes?'". University of Colorado Boulder. CU Boulder Today. 2013-12-20.
  23. ^ "2015 30 UNDER 30: HEALTHCARE". FORBES. Archived from the original on January 6, 2015. Retrieved 20 July 2019.
  24. ^ "Global Genes Announces Fourth Annual RARE Tribute to Champions of Hope Award Recipients". Global Genes. Retrieved 20 July 2019.
  25. ^ "Vice President Joe Biden honored for cancer research in Philadelphia". 6abc. WPVI-TV. 2016-08-04. Retrieved 20 July 2019.
  26. ^ "David C. Fajgenbaum, MD, MBA, MSc, FCPP". Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. Retrieved 20 July 2019.
  27. ^ "Nominees". Rare Disease Legislative Advocates. Retrieved 20 July 2019.
  28. ^ Laura, Dyrda (2017). "100 great healthcare leaders to know". Beckers Hospital Review. Retrieved 20 July 2019.
  29. ^ "DR. DAVID FAJGENBAUM TO RECEIVE RARE AUTOIMMUNE AND IMMUNOLOGICAL DISORDER RESEARCH GRANT AT YOUNG INVESTIGATOR DRAFT PRESENTED BY CSL BEHRING". Uplifting Athletes. 2018-07-31. Archived from the original on 2019-07-20. Retrieved 20 July 2019.
  30. ^ Schlaifer, Alan (2020). "Meet the Amazing Honorees of the 49th Wharton Award Celebration". Wharton Club of DC. Retrieved 20 January 2023.
  31. ^ Goodman, Barbara (2022). "2022 Patient Impact Awards". Cures Within Reach. Retrieved 20 January 2023.
  32. ^ Leinweber, Bill (2022). "Service to Science Awards Dinner". NDRI. Retrieved 20 January 2023.
  33. ^ Dukart, Lisa (2022). "40 Under 40: Dr. David Fajgenbaum, Castleman Disease Collaborative Network". Philadelphia Business Journal. Retrieved 20 January 2023.
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