Thanks to a $1.6 million gift from Sheila and UM Board of Trustee member David Fuente, the University of Miami Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center will launch a multidisciplinary graduate program in studying the biology of cancer.

W. Jarrard Goodwin, M.D., F.A.C.S., director, UM/Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, said the program in cancer biology will “offer a multidisciplinary approach involving several departments built around a cadre of investigators with a shared interest in the biology of cancer and in basic and translational research as it relates to cancer.”

The graduate program will be directed by David Helfman, Ph.D., a distinguished scientist recently recruited from the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. In addition to his leading research work in the biology of cancer, Dr. Helfman helped in the establishment of an innovative and highly successful interdisciplinary graduate program at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. Dr. Helfman is the second of six senior scientists to be recruited to UM/Sylvester.

“The Sheila and David Fuente Graduate Program in Cancer Biology will provide an innovative and multidisciplinary training program for the next generation of cancer researchers. The central philosophy of the program is to expose students to the scientific method in order to better understand the reasoning and logic behind problem solving in clinical cancer research,” Helfman said. “The ultimate goal of the program is to train scholars with the ability to integrate information and develop the thought processes necessary to move scientific discoveries from the laboratory to the clinic.

“Thanks to the foresight and generosity of the Fuentes the next generation of cancer biologists will be exposed to clinical aspects of cancer in addition to basic research,” he added. This will greatly facilitate our overall objective to train students for careers in translational cancer research.”

David Fuente is the former CEO and Chairman of Office Depot Inc. Under his leadership the company went public and became the largest U.S. retailer of office supplies. He is a director of Ryder Systems Inc. and Dick’s Sporting Goods. Before that, the Chicago native was president of Sherwin-Williams paint stores. The Fuentes are active philanthropists and support numerous arts and cultural initiatives.