FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 23, 2009
Contact: Sara Hammond (520) 626-2277
TUCSON, Ariz. – Andrew M. Yeager, MD, Director of the Blood and Marrow Transplantation Program at the Arizona Cancer Center and Professor of Medicine and Pediatrics at the University of Arizona College of Medicine, has been appointed to the Peter and Paula Fasseas Endowed Chair for Excellence in Cancer Research at the Arizona Cancer Center.
“Andy Yeager is one of the most outstanding blood and marrow transplanters in the United States. He is especially unique because he is trained in both pediatric and adult hematology and oncology,” said
Arizona Cancer Center Director David S. Alberts, MD. “All cancer centers are challenged in the search for highly academic experts in blood and marrow transplantation. We were able to recruit Andy based on our promise that we would pursue a chair in bone marrow transplantation for him.”
“We are indebted to Peter and Paula Fasseas and Gregory Pivirotto, president and chief executive officer of University Medical Center, for providing the funding for this prestigious chair,” Alberts said.
The couple made a multimillion dollar gift toward the construction of the Peter and Paula Fasseas Cancer Clinic, Arizona Cancer Center at UMC North, which opened in January 2007. As part of the original gift agreement, Mr. and Mrs. Fasseas earmarked a portion of their gift to the University of Arizona Foundation and University Medical Center for the Peter and Paula Fasseas Endowed Chair.
“We are committed to supporting the research being done at the Arizona Cancer Center, as well as the exemplary patient care provided at the Fasseas Cancer Clinic,” said Mr. and Mrs. Fasseas. “We know that to find cures for cancer, cutting-edge research is essential.”
Dr. Yeager joined the Arizona Cancer Center in 2005. A graduate of The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, his clinical and research activities focus on the transplantation of hematopoietic stem cells – from bone marrow, peripheral blood stem cells or umbilical cord blood cells – for hematologic malignancies and non-malignant diseases.
Dr. Yeager has been consistently chosen by his peers to be among the “Best Doctors in America” and “Top Doctors for Cancer.”
The Peter and Paula Fasseas Endowed Chair is one of six endowed chairs at the Arizona Cancer Center. Endowed chairs support faculty research activities. Awarded to a faculty member at the height of his or her career, an endowed chair is an acknowledgment of past performance and a commanding statement of expectations about future accomplishments. It is a compelling recruiting tool, and an effective means to retain the talent already on campus.
About Peter and Paula Fasseas
Native Tucsonan Paula Sfarnas married Peter Fasseas in Tucson in 1975. The couple made their home in Chicago where Peter was working as an attorney. The couple launched their business in 1978, leveraging their home to purchase North Community Bank, a small one-office community bank with 15 employees. It was the first piece in what would grow to become the Metropolitan Bank Group, the second-largest private bank holding company in Illinois with more than $3.5 billion in assets and nearly 1,000 employees.
The Fasseases support numerous charities and causes in the Chicagoland area. They founded PAWS Chicago (Pets Are Worth Saving) in 1998 after learning about the extent of the pet overpopulation problem. PAWS Chicago is now the largest no-kill humane organization in Chicago, receiving national recognition for its efficient solutions-based approach in animal welfare.
Peter Fasseas received his law degree from Northwestern University, and Paula Fasseas holds a Master’s in Business Administration from the University of Chicago. They currently reside in both Tucson and Chicago and have two grown children, Alexis and Drew, who live in Chicago.
E-mail this page