In Loving Memory

The letter "S" is particularly meaningful for Gary Stein, president of Houston-based Triple-S Steel.

"Our company was named for the three loves of my father's life: my mother Shirley, his mother Sarah and his sister Sharlene," says Stein, a member of MD Anderson Cancer Center's Board of Visitors (BOV). "My mom drove the inspiration in our family throughout her entire life."

Shirley now has another namesake, the Shirley Stein Scientific Endowed Research Award at MD Anderson. The Steins and family friend Regina Rogers, a longtime member of the BOV, established the award with a $600,000 endowment in loving memory of Shirley, who died in 2013.

"Mom was a force of nature," says Stein. "She felt strongly that although she never had to be cared for there, that MD Anderson was one of Houston's crown jewels and needed to be taken care of. This is one way we can honor her memory."

Another Stein family friend, Gene Landon, M.D., assistant professor of Pathology at MD Anderson, helped inspire the award by shedding light on the need to fund smaller research projects. The Stein endowment will fund two cash awards each year to recognize exceptional clinical research from faculty members with limited project resources.

Alejandro Contreras, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor of Pathology, and Yun Wu, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of Pathology, are the inaugural recipients. Contreras focuses on dual imaging of HER2 by immunofluorescence and mRNA in situ hybridization in invasive breast carcinomas. Wu's research centers on the effect of immune responses to neoadjuvant systemic therapy in triple-negative and HER2+ breast cancer. Both are grateful for the much-needed funds.

"When government funding decreases it's great to have families who are so philanthropic," says Contreras. "They allow us to continue the research we believe is so important."