Linda Verville (pictured here) was a beloved wife, mother and grandmother. Her family came to know the depth of Linda’s courage as she battled three types of cancer during the last seven years of her life.
In 2005, her family established the Linda J. Verville Cancer Research Foundation, an all-volunteer nonprofit dedicated to raising funds for cancer research. Its annual Linda’s Legacy Memorial Golf Tournament has raised more than $445,000.
The Verville family’s fundraising currently targets pancreatic cancer, a lethal but under-researched disease. Although it is the cancer with the highest fatality rate, it ranks lowest among major cancers in research funding. Linda’s loved ones intend to change these grim statistics and bring hope to patients and their families.
Two Mass General scientists have received grants from the foundation: Nabeel M. Bardeesy, PhD, is studying the genetic program of pancreatic cancer initiation and progression; and David T. Ting, MD, is devising a blood-based early detection test for pancreatic cancer.
Other grantees are the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, the Lustgarten Foundation for Pancreatic Cancer Research, the UMass Memorial Foundation Pancreatic Cancer Research Fund and the Pancreatic Cancer Early Detection Laboratory at Johns Hopkins University.
