I am delighted to announce that Dana-Farber Cancer Institute has received an anonymous gift to advance our understanding of Waldenström macroglobulinemia (WM). This visionary gift establishes both the Robert F. Tannenhauser Chair for Waldenström’s Research at Dana-Farber, with Steven P. Treon, MD, PhD, serving as the first incumbent and the Steven Treon, MD, PhD, Fund for Advancing Waldenström’s Research.
The newly endowed position is named in memory of Robert F. “Bobby” Tannenhauser, a beloved community member with a deep commitment to serving others, who passed away on April 25, 2025. Dana-Farber is proud to carry forward Bobby’s inspiring legacy; he lived with WM for nearly four decades and was an early participant in familial WM studies—reflecting the enduring impact patients and families can have when they partner with physician-scientists to advance discovery for future generations.
It is an honor to recognize the leader who will carry this work forward. Steve is the Director of the Bing Center for Waldenström’s Macroglobulinemia, where he also serves as Chair of the WM Clinical Trials Group; a senior physician at Dana-Farber; and a Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. Since founding the WM program at Dana-Farber in 1999, the Bing Center clinical team cares for nearly 2,500 WM patients annually, making the Bing Center the world’s leading center for WM care and research.
Steve has had a transformative impact on the treatment of WM. He organized the WM Clinical Trials Group, bringing together investigators in the U.S., Canada, and Europe, and served as Principal Investigator for numerous prospective clinical trials which introduced many novel therapies to WM. Over the past two decades, he and his colleagues at the Bing Center have mapped the genetic blueprint of WM—including landmark discoveries involving MYD88 and CXCR4—and translated those findings into new targeted treatments, including the approval of the BTK-inhibitor ibrutinib as the first FDA-approved treatment for WM. Building on this progress, the team continues to study these and others therapies and the use of genomics to refine how they are used and better match treatments to patients. Together these discoveries have contributed to improving survival for many people with WM from three to five years to decades.
Steve earned his MD and PhD from Boston University with honors and completed his residency in internal medicine at Boston University Medical Center, followed by a hematology/oncology fellowship in hematology at Massachusetts General Hospital and postdoctoral training at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. He has authored more than 300 research papers in prestigious journals and has earned numerous honors for his contributions to WM research, including the Jan Gosta Waldenstrom Lifetime Achievement Award, the Robert A. Kyle Award for Waldenström's Macroglobulinemia, the Medical Discovery Award from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and a Distinguished Alumnus Award from Boston University. Steve was elected a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and the American College of Physicians. Additionally, Steve has played a long-standing leadership role in convening the international WM and myeloma community, chairing scientific workshops and patient-physician summits.
The Robert F. Tannenhauser Chair will provide Steve sustained support to advance bold, high-impact WM research, and the Steven Treon, MD, PhD, Fund for Advancing Waldenström’s Research will help launch and sustain a comprehensive, long-term effort to follow families affected by WM and track genomic and immune-cell changes over time—work aimed at identifying the earliest signals of disease development and enabling earlier intervention.
Please join me in congratulating Steve on this well-deserved honor, and in thanking our anonymous donor for a significant investment in Dana-Farber’s mission and in the WM community.
Thank you for your continued dedication and service, and for the many ways you strengthen our community and deliver world-class, compassionate care.
With gratitude,
Benjamin L. Ebert, MD, PhD
President and CEO,
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Richard and Susan Smith Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School