David Fajgenbaum, MD, MBA, MSc University of Pennsylvania

Dr. David Fajgenbaum, MD, MBA, MSc is battling a deadly illness as a physician, researcher, entrepreneur, and patient. Fajgenbaum became ill with idiopathic multicentric Castleman disease (iMCD) in 2010, spent five months hospitalized, had his last rites read, and has had life threatening relapses requiring combination chemotherapy every 15 to 17 months for the last five years. Between relapses, he co-founded the Castleman Disease Collaborative Network (CDCN) in 2012 to accelerate research and treatment discovery for iMCD--a deadly hematologic illness where the immune system attacks and shuts down vital organs. The CDCN is taking an innovative approach that is collaborative, crowd-sourced, and patient-focused.

He is now an Assistant Professor of Medicine in Hematology/Oncology at the University of Pennsylvania, and his research initiated a paradigm shift in how doctors research and treat iMCD. In fact, Fajgenbaum’s current regimen is based on his published research. Fajgenbaum continues to research iMCD and works to turn the CDCN’s innovative model into a blueprint for rare disease research. He was named to Forbes Magazine's 2015 30 Under 30 Healthcare list. Fajgenbaum received an MBA from Wharton, MD from University of Pennsylvania, Masters in Public Health from University of Oxford, and BS from Georgetown University.