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Rogel Gift

In 2018, Richard and Susan Rogel committed $150 million to our cancer center. Their gift provides funding for seven programs that focus on:

  • improving treatment and care for cancer patients
  • helping to develop promising scientists
  • leveraging the university’s broad and deep strengths in science, innovation and patient care

The following programs are currently supported by the Rogels’ generous gift.

Scholars:

Rogel Scholar awards provide recognition and discretionary funds to support exceptional Rogel Cancer Center faculty members dedicated to pursuit of research to advance our understanding of the origins and behaviors of cancer and to achieving impact on cancer prevention, patient outcomes and quality of life for cancer patients, survivors and those at risk of cancer. Scholar awards are provided for a three-year term that can potentially be renewed for an additional two-year term.

Rogel members holding full professorships or research professorships are not eligible to hold a Rogel Scholar award. To identify potential new Rogel Scholars, Rogel senior leadership will consider all eligible Rogel core members. The Rogel Cancer Center will keep an updated list of all current Core Members who do not currently hold a full professorship or research professorship. The Rogel Scholar selection process is holistic in nature. Multiple factors are considered in the evaluation and decision process in making Rogel Scholar awards. Besides the excellence of the member’s scholarly contributions and potential for further innovation and impact in the upcoming period, to recognize and represent the breadth of the Rogel Cancer Center’s commitment across the full scholarly continuum in the Rogel Cancer Center, a range of other considerations are weighed, such as the following: i) the member’s cancer research focus; ii) recent and overall cancer-relevant funding and peer-reviewed publications as well as clinical trials roles; iii) range, depth, and consistency of collaborative engagement with other Rogel members in grants and publications; iv) formal and informal leadership roles and service contributions across the Rogel Cancer Center; v) scope and depth of participation in Rogel Cancer Center activities and initiatives; vi) training and mentorship contributions in the cancer area; vi) Rogel Cancer Center research program assignment, and U-M school/college and department appointment(s); vii) evidence of professionalism and collegiality; viii) other evidence of impact and contributions to the Rogel Cancer Center (e.g., cancer clinical care and cancer clinical trial contributions, service in Rogel community outreach and engagement activities, alignment with Rogel catchment area cancer goals and initiatives); and ix) overall alignment of scholarship and contributions with Rogel strategic priorities and objectives.

2022 Rogel Scholars in Cancer Health Equity

Rogel Fellow

The Rogel Fellow program provides support for innovative and influential scientists, mentoring them and giving them the freedom necessary to build creative independent research programs and become the next generation of leaders in cancer research and treatment.

The current Rogel Fellow is Abhijit Parolia, Ph.D. He is an assistant professor of pathology, studying the role of chromatin in cancer and how its architecture may be exploited to develop new therapies.

Rogel Clinical Research Early Investigators

The Rogel Clinical Research Early Investigators awards provide career development support to junior faculty members who have demonstrated outstanding clinical research and a promising future in oncology. The awards help young clinical investigators establish their research programs.

2023 Clinical Research Early Investigator

Richard and Susan Rogel Professorships

Establishing professorships is an excellent way to ensure the cancer center's continued excellence for years to come. It honors and promotes faculty involved in exceptional and innovative research. The current professorships are:

Rogel Scholarships

Rogel Medical Student Scholarships support fourth-year medical students and Rogel Graduate Student Scholarships support M.D./Ph.D. or Ph.D. students during their dissertation phase of their graduate training. The scholarships are awarded to recognize the body of prior research accomplishments of each student along with the potential of each recipient for further major impact in a career in the cancer research field. The medical student award recipients are chosen via collaboration between the University of Michigan Medical School’s Office of Admissions and the Rogel Cancer Center.

2024 Medical Student Scholarships:

  • Casey Brodsky
  • Cameron Speyer
  • Prashant Puttagunta

2024 Graduate Student Scholarships:

Rogel Innovation Teams

Innovation Teams funding supports Rogel members’ innovative research in high-priority areas, including purchasing state-of-the-art equipment and technologies, and supporting expert, transdisciplinary team members

More than $3 million in funding has been dedicated to these efforts:

  • Expanding quantitative data science capabilities
  • Launching an Immuno-Oncology Biomarkers initiative to identify biomarkers and enhance patient selection for immune checkpoint inhibitors
  • Purchasing a Vectra-Polaris imaging system to provide an exponential increase in acquired data and a third dimension to current analysis of the tumor microenvironment

Patient Support

The Rogel Cancer Center offers many important supportive services to our patients, many of which are not covered by insurance. Rogel Patient and Outreach Funds have been used to support genetic counseling, patient and family support services available to all Rogel cancer patients, and investment in community-wide efforts to address gaps in cancer screening.