"The most satisfying thing I do"

Late husband's research inspires Barbara Thrasher's commitment to fight cancer

by Barbara Berg

Sifting through a stack of mail last summer, Barbara Thrasher's attention was caught by a small white envelope. The note inside was short, but its message came from the heart.

Dear Ms. Thrasher,

For the past year, I have been the recipient of the Joel Meyers Infectious Diseases Scholarship grant. I write today to express my deepest gratitude for your support. The funding has allowed me to conduct research aimed at understanding how a virus that is known to cause cancer is transmitted between people. It has directly resulted in three publications in the literature so far, allowed me to compete successfully for a nearly $1 million grant from the National Institutes of Health and enabled me to secure a faculty position at Fred Hutchinson and at the University of Washington.

I look forward to the opportunity to thank you in person one day, but until then, please accept this small token of my appreciation.

Sincerely,

Corey Casper, M.D.

Casper is one of seven fellows in Fred Hutchinson's Program in Infectious Diseases whose careers and research have been advanced by the endowment that Thrasher established.

Thrasher is a major donor to the center who also serves as secretary of Fred Hutchinson's fund-raising foundation board. She said she finds it hard to describe the "wonderful feeling" she gets from helping scientists early in their career to achieve their goals. But most gratifying, she said, is that the endowment carries out the legacy of her late husband, Dr. Joel Meyers.

A former Fred Hutchinson researcher who pioneered the study of infectious diseases in bone-marrow transplant patients, Meyers succumbed to colon cancer in 1991 at 46.

"Joel was so committed to students and fellows, he often said that the best work in the world is done by those early in their careers," said Thrasher, who established the Joel Meyers Infectious Diseases Scholarship Fund a year after her husband's death.

"He would do everything he could to help an aspiring scientist or doctor pursue their goals. I know he would feel that this fellowship could make a big difference for them."

The endowment, to which many individuals and companies contribute, has grown to more than $700,000.

Helping to further the careers of aspiring researchers through the endowment is but one way that Thrasher carries out her commitment to Fred Hutchinson and its mission to eliminate cancer. Through her work on the foundation board, of which she has been a member since 1996, Thrasher is tireless in her efforts to share the center's goals and accomplishments with others. She has motivated dozens to contribute to cancer research at Fred Hutchinson. "No one is untouched by cancer," she said.

Remarried in 1998, Thrasher and her husband, Richard Koffey, who lost his father to leukemia, are among the center's most ardent champions as major annual donors. At their wedding, they asked guests to give contributions to Fred Hutchinson in lieu of gifts. "Rick knew when he met me that supporting cancer research at the center was my mission," she said.

Among their activities to encourage others to donate to the center were a reception in 2000 at their winter home in Sun Valley, Idaho, and an educational event at the local public library, where Dr. Lee Hartwell, center president and director, spoke about Fred Hutchinson's work to a standing-room-only crowd.

"We expected that 30 people would attend, and 100 showed up!" she said. "The Sun Valley library staff had never seen that many people attend an event. It was so satisfying to see how many are interested in cancer research-and in particular, the work that goes on at the center."

Larry Feder, vice president of development, described Thrasher as a "development director's dream."

"Barbara is a no-holds-barred individual, with an incredible amount of passion and commitment," Feder said. "It's that energy that is so successful at motivating others to support the center."

Much of Thrasher's own motivation is influenced by her late husband's devotion to cancer research. Meyers' career was inspired in part by a visit in 1972 to Fred Hutchinson's then-fledgling transplantation program. A young investigator at the Centers for Disease Control, Meyers was dispatched to Seattle to investigate a hepatitis outbreak on the transplant ward.

The unique complications suffered by transplant patients-who have weakened immune systems-intrigued Meyers enough to join Fred Hutchinson several years later, after he completed his residency in infectious diseases.

Without Meyers' research that advanced understanding of such infectious complications, today's success rates for bone-marrow and stem-cell transplantation would not have been possible, said Dr. Larry Corey, head of the Program in Infectious Diseases and Meyers' close colleague and friend.

"Joel built the pre-eminent model program for defining infectious complications of immunocompromised patients, which include not only transplant patients but also individuals who suffer from AIDS," Corey said. "Thanks to his work, we now have successful prevention strategies for viral infections that were once commonly fatal."

Corey added that the endowment Thrasher established in Meyers' name has provided a unique career-development opportunity for outstanding investigators.

"There is a shortage of people who specialize in the study of the unique infections that plague immunocompro-mised patients," he said. "The fellows program has enabled researchers to complete their training at Fred Hutchinson and then to establish programs of their own here and at other institutions, where they continue to train others in this important field of research and patient care."

Thrasher said that while her late husband's research passion focused on viruses, he never lost sight of the fact that his work was rooted in the broader goal of eliminating cancer.

"We were both struck by the impact that cancer has on patients and their families," she said. "Seeing family members in the hospital who were waiting and hoping to take someone home-that was an image that was always on our minds."

While Meyers devoted his research career to improving the health of cancer patients, Thrasher, a former gallery owner, worked to enhance patients' quality of life through art. She helped to persuade renowned Northwest landscape photographer Art Wolfe to provide prints that were hung in the patient-care areas of the center.

"So many patients traveled to Seattle for their treatment and spent their entire stay in hospital rooms, never seeing the beauty of the Northwest," she said. "I thought we could improve patients' spirits by offering them a glimpse of nature."

Cancer hit home for Thrasher in 1989, when Meyers was diagnosed with colon cancer.

"People would say, 'he's a doctor, how could this happen?" she said. "But with cancer, whether a person is rich or poor, or of any profession, none of us is safe. It's a terribly egalitarian disease."

Cancer's pervasive reach is exactly why Thrasher describes her work to support Fred Hutchinson's mission as "the most satisfying thing I do."

"I know that if Joel is watching from somewhere, he'd be greatly pleased to see that his efforts are being carried on."

Barbara Berg, Ph.D., is a science writer for Fred Hutchinson.

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