John Ranelli will never forget the words his father, Frank, a World War II veteran, said when John was about to board a submarine for his first patrol during the Vietnam and Cold Wars. “As he put his arm around me, I was expecting him to say, “Be careful. Come home safe,’” John says. “Instead, he said, ‘Make sure they know my son was there.’”
John saw those words as a call to make a difference, to be present and to step up in times of challenge and lead. After his father’s death in 2008 from mantle cell lymphoma, his daughter Christina’s breast cancer diagnosis and his wife Ashley’s thyroid cancer diagnosis, John and Ashley heeded that call. The couple made a $1 million gift to establish the John and Ashley Ranelli Endowed Scholar in Cancer Innovation at Massachusetts General Hospital to provide hope to other patients and families facing a cancer diagnosis.
“Cancer. The word alone is the loudest sound you will ever hear, enough to shake a person to their core. For us, cancer is more than just a disease. It is a defining force that has shaped our family’s journey and led us to where we are today.
When my father, Frank Ranelli, was diagnosed with mantle cell lymphoma, we had already faced our own battle with my acoustic neuroma. While my tumor was benign, the experience of diagnosis, surgery and recovery opened our eyes to the fragility of life and the importance of world-class medical care. But nothing prepared us for watching my father fight cancer. It was a battle unlike any other, a fight that tested his strength, our family’s resilience and the incredible dedication of the medical professionals who cared for him. During that period, I learned more about life, from Ephraim Hochberg, MD, than from any other experience I had ever known. His guidance, care and relentless dedication to his patients showed us what it truly meant to fight — this time, not in a war zone, but in the trenches of a devastating disease.
Then, three years ago, our daughter Christina was diagnosed with breast cancer. It was another devastating blow to our family, another painful reminder of cancer’s indiscriminate reach. Watching our daughter endure surgery and treatment reignited our determination to fight this disease, not just for her but for all families affected by cancer. Christina’s strength and resilience inspired us, just as my father’s battle had. She fought with courage and perseverance, leaning on the expertise of her medical team. Her experience reinforced what we already knew from my father’s illness and my wife Ashley’s successful treatments at Mass General for thyroid cancer: the importance of cutting-edge research, compassionate care and the need for continued innovation in cancer treatment.
“This is not a battle any one person can fight alone. It requires the combined strength of everyone, everywhere. If our family can play a part in bringing together the finest hospital in cancer care and the brightest scientific minds directly to patients, when they are overwhelmed by a diagnosis and desperately seeking answers, that would truly be an extraordinary achievement we will be proud of.”
In my dad’s memory, my family and I vowed we would find a way to join Dr. Hochberg at the tip of the spear, to let cancer know that Frank and his family are here. Under Dr. Hochberg’s guidance and with the leadership of David Ryan, MD, we made my dad’s vision and my dream come true — establishing a way to make a big, lasting difference at a critical time in people’s lives, quickly and efficiently, through the John and Ashley Ranelli Endowed Scholar in Cancer Innovation.
Our goals for the Ranelli Endowed Scholar are to create a highly prestigious and distinguished cancer endowment for clinicians and scientists — from research to point of care — and to help Dr. Ryan achieve his goal of attracting and retaining the best and brightest. We also want to support the type of pioneering research often overlooked by traditional sources of funding. I cannot think of a better person to be the inaugural Ranelli Endowed Scholar than Matthew Frigault, MD, whose innovations in CAR T-cell therapy are already making incredible differences in people’s lives.
The multidisciplinary, team-based approach at Mass General — where doctors work directly with researchers, and hospital units collaborate with laboratories — ensures that discoveries move quickly from research to treatment. This is not a battle any one person can fight alone. It requires the collective strength of everyone. Whether through financial contributions, volunteering or simply raising awareness, we can all be part of the fight. And if our family, through the Ranelli Scholar, helps to bring the best hospital in cancer care and the best scientists to a patient’s bedside, when they’re struggling with a diagnosis and in a state of panic searching for answers, that will be a deeply meaningful and impactful achievement for all.
To support physician-scientists discovering new treatments for people living with cancer, make a gift to the Ranelli Endowed Scholar fund or contact us.
