Former health system CEO Stephen Klasko, MD, and his wife, Colleen Wyse, donated $500,000 to the American Cancer Society for a new grant program to fund innovations in cancer care.
The Advancing Health Equity and Addressing Cancer Disparities, or AHEAD, Awards aim to find projects that bring technologies to cancer patients rather than making them travel to healthcare facilities. The cancer society seeks to raise $3 million to support up to 10 proposals.
"The American Cancer Society gets it," Dr. Klasko said in a March 20 news release. "It is time to move population health, social determinants, and health gaps from philosophy to action and the mainstream of clinical care, research and payment models."
Dr. Klasko, the former president and CEO of Philadelphia-based Jefferson Health, is an executive-in-residence at venture capital firm General Catalyst. He and his wife's gift will also support the cancer society's venture arm, BrightEdge.