As a sarcoma survivor, Andy Lietz has dedicated his philanthropic efforts to encouraging and supporting doctors that are studying this rare disease.
When Andy was being treated for sarcoma, he learned from his orthopaedic oncology surgeon, Kevin Raskin, MD, that there was a critical shortage of doctors pursuing careers in sarcoma. There was also a pressing need to increase funding that would lead to further research and educational opportunities focused on sarcoma and other soft tissue cancers. As a result, Andy and his wife Donna have provided generous support to the Orthopaedic Oncology Fellowship program at the Mass General Cancer Center.
His philanthropy has had a significant impact on two orthopaedic oncology fellows. One fellow, Andrew Park, MD, took on this specialty following a personal experience. “I became aware of orthopaedic oncology in college when one of my friends had Ewing’s sarcoma, and I actually decided to go to medical school to treat patients with bone cancer,” Dr. Park says. “I’d like to personally thank the Lietzs for contributing to an area of medicine that tends to be neglected due to the scarcity of the diseases we treat.”
David Hennessy, MD, another recipient of the Lietz’s generosity, states, “My clinical interests are primarily in the treatment of sarcoma and complex reconstruction to improve functional outcomes. I plan to use the education grants to help fund my involvement in a research project, such as evaluating the different surgical methods to treat patients with metastatic renal cell cancer.”
