2017 Annual Report

Janice Fukakusa has been an incredible supporter of The Princess Margaret, serving on the Foundation’s board since 2011. Both this involvement and her family’s financial support helped us complete our BILLION DOLLAR CHALLENGE. She and her husband, Greg Belbeck, committed $500,000 to The Princess Margaret’s cancer stem cell research program supporting the work of Drs. John Dick (who discovered cancer stem cells), Rama Khokha and Jean Wang. Mussell Family Honours Daughter’s Memory with an Estate Gift When Elizabeth Mussell was born she was given six weeks to live. Doctors in London, Ontario could not diagnose the particular blood disorder that caused her red blood cells to die off too quickly. After moving to Toronto, Elizabeth was treated by multiple doctors, but no one could identify the cause of her condition. Despite this, Elizabeth was determined to fight the disease. When she was 22, she was referred to The Princess Margaret’s Dr. Hans Messner who became her medical oncologist. She participated in many clinical trials, and even though there was no known cure, the team at The Princess Margaret never gave up on trying to find the answers. “Dr. Messner bent over backwards to do everything he could. He kept her alive for an additional 22 years, and that’s something we’re very thankful for,” says Elizabeth’s father, Dennis Mussell. Fukakusa Belbeck Family Donation to Cancer Stem Cell Research The Mussell family was so inspired by the quality of research and patient care happening at the cancer centre that they decided to leave a bequest in Elizabeth’s honour, naming The Princess Margaret in their Wills. 30 | 2017 Report to Our Donors TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP