DONOR NEWS

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Donors EXCELERATE ��ý

Pioneering cancer research

From left: Biomedical Engineering Department Chair Kaiming Ye; Watson College Dean Krishnaswami “Hari” Srihari; Connie Wong; Gary Kunis ’73, LHD ’02; and University President Harvey Stenger at the Douglas Hsu Research Laboratory dedication Oct. 16.

Through the Gary and Connie Kunis Foundation, Gary Kunis ’73, LHD ’02, and Connie Wong are advancing pathbreaking cancer research at ��ý.

Their son, who graduated with a bioengineering degree from University of Rochester, died of brain cancer at age 33. In 2018, Kunis and Wong established the Douglas Hsu Memorial Scholarship in Biomedical Engineering to support first-year students in the Thomas J. Watson College of Engineering and Applied Science. Recently, they expanded their support to further honor their son’s memory and foster biomedical engineering research that could help combat the disease.

In recognition of their generosity, ��ý has named a lab in its Biotechnology Building the Douglas Hsu Research Laboratory. A dedication was held Oct. 16.

Their support provides for the purchase of crucial equipment and other items related to the research conducted in the lab, which includes developing therapeutic cancer vaccines through a genome-editing technology that converts a patient’s cancer cells into vaccines that mobilize their own immune systems to eliminate tumors.

“Biotechnology was something so dear to his heart, and that’s why we’re very lucky to have this opportunity to dedicate this lab to our son,” Wong said at the event.

��ý President Harvey Stenger thanked Kunis and Wong for their extensive support of the University over the years. He said with this latest gift, faculty and graduate students will be able to pursue “the most innovative research in this field and, more importantly, add to people’s health and well-being for generations to come.”

“Every single trip when I come back to ��ý, I see progress, I see more faculty, I see more students, and they’re so energetic,” Wong said. “This school is part of our family.”

Exceptional learning environments

Andrew Bonzani ’86; his wife, Marie Christine; and daughter Claire converse with student Galileo Savage (far right) after the Sept. 21 dedication of the Bonzani & Cantu Family Classroom in Room 108 of the Classroom Wing of the Lecture Hall. The Bonzanis established the Bonzani Law Internship and the John and Lawrence Bonzani Memorial Scholarship and have enhanced opportunities at ��ý in many other ways.

Unrivaled opportunities

From left: Michael J. Starke, who coached men’s tennis at ��ý and owned the ��ý Tennis Center, with tennis alumnus Michael F. Lane ’89 at the Sept. 21 dedication of the Lane - Starke Tennis Center in ��ý. Lisa Marie Lane ’89, MA ’92 and her husband, Michael, support ��ý athletics, including men’s tennis; Harpur College of Arts and Sciences; and much more.

Lifechanging impact

University President Harvey Stenger (left) with David Hubbard, son of Anne A. Hubbard and the late Thomas J. Hubbard, whose gift helped make possible the Ford Family Wellness Center for Seniors. The newly constructed facility in Johnson City — diagonally across from ��ý’s Decker College of Nursing and Health Sciences on the University’s Health Sciences Campus — opened its doors in July. The center expands geriatric healthcare in the region and provides experiential learning opportunities for students.

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