The late Ken Cowan, MD, PhD, left an indelible mark on cancer care and research in Nebraska.
As a clinician and oncologist, Dr. Cowan made his cancer care personal. He was known for sharing his cell number with his patients with an open invitation to call, even as he led the Eppley Institute for Research in Cancer and Allied Diseases and the Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center.
For more than two decades, as director of the Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center – a National Cancer Institute-designated cancer center at UNMC – he elevated cancer research in the state to its prominent place today at the forefront in the fight against the disease.
Now, following Dr. Cowan’s death last year, the Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center sees a new way to help extend his legacy – through the Kenneth Cowan, MD, PhD, Distinguished Chair in Breast Cancer Clinical Research at UNMC.
The University of Nebraska Foundation is in the final stages of fundraising toward a $1 million goal to endow the Dr. Cowan Distinguished Chair.
Joann Sweasy, PhD, who succeeded Dr. Cowan as director of the Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center, said she sees a real opportunity for the cancer center to recruit a national leader in breast cancer research – who is strong in clinical research – to the Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center.
Dr. Cowan is irreplaceable, Dr. Sweasy said. But given the burden of breast cancer on Nebraska and the cancer center’s responsibilities as an NCI-designated center, Dr. Sweasy said her goal is to hire a leader in breast cancer research to lead the charge against the disease.
“It’s very important for us to build on Dr. Cowan’s legacy of being an exceptional breast cancer physician-researcher,” said Dr. Sweasy, who also is the Robert F. and Myrna L. Krohn Chair in Cancer Research.
Tom Thompson, senior director of development for the NU Foundation, said that while the fundraising is nearing its goal, support for the Dr. Cowan Distinguished Chair is a wonderful reflection of his impact in the community and across the state.
“This is a fitting tribute to Dr. Cowan, on a personal level, for his impact on what he’s done for our cancer center and our campus,” Thompson said. “It is also, as Dr. Sweasy has articulated, a critical component to help in our future breast cancer clinical program and our future breast cancer research efforts.”
The future leader recruited to the Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center, Thompson said, will carry the name of someone with a tremendous legacy.
“It makes Dr. Cowan a part of our future,” Thompson said.
Breast cancer among females represents the leading incidence of cancer in Nebraska – and ranks as the second-leading cause of death from cancer, behind only lung cancer.
Dr. Sweasy said the incidence of breast cancer in Nebraska remains very high – and many women still die from metastatic breast cancer.
Breast cancer treatment has seen major advances, with significant progress through next-generation therapies called antibody drug conjugates, such as Kadcyla and Enhertu.
Those are good treatments, Dr. Sweasy said, that are enabling women to live longer. Even so, she said, “there’s a need here to develop better treatments for metastatic breast cancer.”
Dr. Sweasy sees the opportunity to develop new therapeutics at the Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center – through its own research, aided by local clinical trials, under the leadership of the Dr. Cowan Distinguished Chair.
Dr. Sweasy offered high acclaim for the cancer center’s team: Great basic research capabilities and a great clinical team with caring physicians.
What she envisions is a stronger bridge between those strong capacities – a leader who will invent new therapeutics to bring into the clinic to help people with breast cancer, while also building the pipeline of translational research and mentoring junior faculty.
“We have basic scientists who have identified brand new targets that are potentially paradigm-shifting,” Dr. Sweasy said, citing the breadth of research underway at the cancer center.
“We can do it here. We can absolutely do it here.”
Dr. Sweasy said she agreed that the Dr. Cowan Distinguished Chair is the best way to honor his legacy.
“He would love it, because he was very dedicated to his patients and very dedicated to improving therapies for breast cancer.”
Said Thompson, “It’s a great honor.”