Heather Cheng receives Marty Lazarus Weiden Family Endowed Chair
Dr. Heather Cheng, professor (Hematology and Oncology) and clinical director of cancer genetics programs at Fred Hutch Cancer Center, was recently named the inaugural recipient of the Marty Lazarus Weiden Family Endowed Chair. Cheng also directs the Fred Hutch Prostate Cancer Genetics Clinic.
The endowed chair was established by Paul Weiden, MD, along with his children, David and Wendy Weiden, and his wife, Bev Linkletter. It is named for Paul Weiden’s first wife and his children’s mother, Marty Lazarus Weiden, who was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1993 and died of the disease in 2001.
The purpose of the endowed chair is to support the detection, prevention and treatment of breast, ovarian, pancreatic, prostate and other cancers related to inherited cancer risk genes.
“This is a tremendous and generous gift that will allow me to pursue a more expansive vision for how we at Fred Hutch can identify individuals who have genetic risk of cancer and manage risk through early detection, prevention and interception strategies. In those who develop cancer, we can leverage this knowledge to enable targeted treatment approaches while also ensuring their family members have support for understanding their own risk and their options to be proactive for their health.”