David Fajgenbaum

Pioneering physician-scientist, tenured professor at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, and national bestselling author who transformed his personal battle with the rare, deadly Castleman disease into a global mission to accelerate cures for humanity's 12,000 known diseases. Diagnosed after losing his mother to cancer, he endured five near-death experiences before using his medical training to identify sirolimus—a repurposed drug—as a life-saving treatment, achieving remission marking over a decade cancer-free as of 2025. A Georgetown University graduate with advanced degrees from Oxford and Wharton, he co-founded the Castleman Disease Collaborative Network (CDCN) and Every Cure.