A $1.5-million donation from Ridgefield residents Rudy and Sally Ruggles to the Western Connecticut Health Network Biomedical Research Institute creates and endows a cancer research position.
Ridgefield residents Rudy and Sally Ruggles have donated $1.5 million to the Western Connecticut Health Network Biomedical Research Institute to support its cancer research initiatives.
The gift was made in honor of Cristiano Ferlini MD, Ph.D. and creates and endows the Rudy and Sally Ruggles Chief of Cancer Research, the research institute’s first endowed position.
Dr. Ferlini, the research institute’s director of cancer research, is a physician and researcher whose recent discoveries are described as “a new milestone in the design of cancer-targeted therapies” with the potential to change the way chemotherapy drugs are developed, tested and utilized to target various cancers, the health network said.
“The potential applications of our methodology are as profound as they are exciting,” said John M. Murphy MD, president and CEO of Western Connecticut Health Network. “Not only have our researchers discovered an algorithm that can evaluate and predict with remarkable accuracy the efficacy of drugs currently in development but it will also enable us to better utilize existing cancer drugs to target specific cancers in specific individuals, with better medical outcomes and fewer side effects.”
Dr. Ferlini and his team “are on the verge of major breakthroughs in cancer treatment,” Mr. Ruggles said. “Their discoveries rival that of the world’s major cancer research centers, and we’re delighted to support Dr. Ferlini’s team to ensure the future of this critically important work.”
Dr. Murphy said “translational research at the research institute is distinctive in its ability to speed promising drug discoveries from the lab into treatments that directly benefit patients.”
“We are able to focus on what matters right now to the people who live in our community and are receiving care at our hospitals,” Dr. Murphy said. “We can couple the community’s interests with the best minds in science. Philanthropic donors like the Ruggles, to whom we are deeply grateful, help us investigate, innovate, discover and bring our findings back to the patient bedside and ultimately to the worldwide research community.”