University of Michigan Health has announced a $30 million commitment from U-M regent Ron Weiser to establish a patient-focused program in prostate cancer.

The Ronald Weiser Center for Prostate Cancer will work to elevate and optimize the healthcare experience for patients with prostate cancer and their families by investing in staff, infrastructure, technologies, and education as well as research into the disease and its treatment. The center will be a clinically focused entity within the Rogel Cancer Center that combines expertise from three departments — Urology, Radiation Oncology, and Radiology — with representatives from each discipline collaborating and serving in leadership roles.

A portion of the gift will be used to recruit and retain top researchers as trainees and faculty, including those who are underrepresented in the field of prostate cancer. The gift also will fund the acquisition of advanced equipment and materials to further the center’s approach of using precision medicine to diagnose and treat patients.

Weiser, who has served on the U-M board since 2016, was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2019, and the experience led him to reflect on how he could help combat the country’s second leading cause of cancer-related deaths among men. “I’m grateful for the excellent care at U-M that has helped me fight the cancer that invaded my body,” said Weiser, who has given more than $150 million to the university to date. “But going through this has made me realize more could be done to support so many other men and their families who face this terrible disease, too.”

(Photo credit: Leisa Thompson)