Rubin's heartfelt celebration of 'chai'

General Article

In honor of his post-transplant anniversary, the Michael B. Rubin Endowment will raise funds for research at Premier Chefs Dinner

Thanks to the bone-marrow transplant Michael Rubin received 18 years ago at the Center, his life now includes his wife, Sharon, four-year old daughter, Mallory, and a career that enables him to give back. Photo by Todd McNaught

When it comes to milestones, our society tends to schedule the biggest celebrations at certain increments; it's those 10-, 25- and 50-year anni-versaries that we deem important. But for Michael Rubin, the Center's director of major gifts, and his family, 18 is his lucky number.

In 1987, after being diagnosed with myelodysplasia that progressed to acute leukemia, Rubin received a transplant of his sister's bone marrow at the Hutchinson Center, then located on Seattle's First Hill. Both the Center and its bone-marrow transplant program were in their infancy; Rubin was told he was only the 10th person with his disease to undergo the procedure. Rubin said that at the time, he was encouraged to hear that eight of the nine prior transplant recipients were still alive.

The meaning of 'chai'

"When you're that young, you have a feeling that you are immortal," said Rubin, who was a college sophomore when he was first diagnosed with the potentially fatal blood disorder. "That feeling is turned upside down when you hear you could die. It's a terrible shock at an age when your instinct is to focus on who you are and what you want to do with your life."

But Rubin's transplant proved successful and he, too, became a survivor, crediting the Center and its caring staff with saving his life. Every year since, Rubin's family has helped him celebrate the anniversary of what he considers a medical miracle. For Rubin the year 2005 is a major milestone, because in the Jewish tradition the word for 18, "chai," means "life" and is considered lucky.

In grateful anticipation of Rubin's "lucky" anniversary, his parents, Ruth and Milt Rubin, established the Michael B. Rubin Endowment for the general fund at the Hutchinson Center. At the Premier Chefs Dinner fund-raiser on May 22, attendees will be encouraged to give generously to support this endowment for lifesaving research.

The younger Rubin set about celebrating the 18-year milestone by committing himself to the Center and advocating for others to give back. This spring he addressed the monthly Administrative Forum and threw a big thank-you party for the staff and colleagues who have played an important role in the lives of transplant patients and their families.

Rubin is also helping plan "Legacy for Life," the upcoming summer reunion of the Center's marrow and stem-cell transplant survivors who are five or more years post transplant. The reunion's theme is intended to underscore the important role of each transplant recipient in helping researchers fine tune the treatments. It is through this legacy for life that each generation of transplant recipients furthers the search for a cure, improving survival rates and quality of life for future patients.

"The soul of the Hutchinson Center is people caring for strangers," Rubin said. "First it was personified in heroes like Nobel laureate Don Thomas and his wife and research partner, Dottie, whose pioneering work in bone-marrow transplantation has saved so many lives. Today this soul extends into a network of committed people who pursue and support our research."

Rubin cites the new Early Detection and Intervention Initiative and continued groundbreaking research on bone-marrow and stem-cell transplantation as examples of the Center's leadership.

Standard of research

"We've proven ourselves as the standard of research. Anything we investigate, we're likely to end up with strong answers," he said. "Rather than staying focused on one disease, we're willing to explore whatever comes of our research, even when it takes us in unexpected directions. By giving back to the Center, we reinforce our confidence in our scientific leaders to pursue leads that will ultimately benefit the lives of many."

Private support of the Center's research enables the funding of critical needs such as faculty recruitment, pilot research projects, shared research facilities and patient-family programs. If you or a friend would like to support the general fund through the Michael B. Rubin Endowment and/or the Premier Chefs Dinner, please contact Sherri Swingle at (206) 667-2980 or sswingle@fhcrc.org.

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