Volume 28 ISSUE 1 2014
IN THIS ISSU E
The Campaign for Mayo Clinic
Mayo Clinic has reached an inflection point. As
we celebrate our 150th anniversary, the health care
environment is changing more quickly and more
radically than ever before. Reimbursement rates and
extramural funding are both declining. This is also
a time of remarkable opportunity, however, as we
stand on the brink of discoveries that promise to
establish a new standard in health care:
■ Our understanding of the human genome becomes
deeper every day, allowing us to tailor treatments
to each patient’s unique genetic makeup.
■ We are testing stem cell technology in middle-phase
clinical trials, which gives new hope to patients with
diseases for which there are currently no cures.
■ We are applying engineering principles to improve
health care delivery and ensure every patient has the
best outcome possible at the most affordable cost.
At Mayo Clinic, the needs of every patient come fi rst.
Mayo Clinic has a responsibility to provide whole-person
care to everyone who needs healing. To advance that
cause, we are launching YOU ARE ... The Campaign for
Mayo Clinic. Through this effort to raise $3 billion by
the end of 2017, Mayo Clinic is partnering with visionary
benefactors to provide patient-centered innovations that
previously could not have been imagined.
In this issue of Mayo Clinic Magazine, you will see
stories of benefactors who are already making a difference
with contributions that span the entire spectrum of
donation, from endowing research and work aimed
at transforming the delivery of health care, to monthly
bank account deductions that help ensure no one has
to suffer as a family member has.
Thank you so much for supporting Mayo Clinic and
being part of this exciting time in our history and future.
Enjoy this issue of Mayo Clinic Magazine.
Michael Camilleri, M.D.
Executive Dean for Development
Atherton and Winifred W. Bean Professor
Professor of Medicine, Pharmacology and
Physiology, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine
Mayo Clinic Distinguished Investigator
Volume 28, Issue 1 2014
1
F E ATURES
SERENDIPITY
4
Where Science Meets the Inexplicable,
Lives the Extraordinary
HONORING THE PAST,
ENSURING THE FUTURE
12
Building on 150 Years of Accomplishments
for Generations to Come
YOU ARE ...
34
Visionary Benefactors Are Vital Catalysts
for Pioneering Care
45
A Firm Faith
Kerns Give $100 Million to Help Others
36
Uniting Forces
The Partnership Is Greater Than the
Individual Components
39
Like Father and Mother
Two Daughters Follow in Their Parents’ Footsteps
41
Ready to Lead
Bringing Vision, Experience and Passion
45
In It for the Long Run
Inspired by His Mother’s Voice to
Create a Legacy of Hope
48
Thank you to all those who joined
The Campaign for Mayo Clinic last year.
mayoclinic.org/HonorRoll
2 Mayo Clinic Magazine
DEPARTMENTS
18
22
THE DIFFERENCE
17
Regenerative Medicine
18
Science of Health
Care Delivery
20
Individualized Medicine
22
Biomedical Research
24
Proton Beam Therapy
Program
26
Mayo Medical School
28
Mayo Clinic Model of Care
30
Capital Projects
32
STRENGTH
IN NUMBERS
50
Braving the Ice
and Cold
51
We Do It for Others
52
Linking a Legacy
52
An Iron Man for
Mom and Sister
53
Miles for Melanoma
54
GRATEFUL
PATIENTS
56
Easing My Fears
57
Helping Me Fight Cancer
58
Changed My Brother’s Life
59
48
30
57
Volume 28, Issue 1 2014
3
Serendipity
Where Science Meets
the Inexplicable, Lives the
Extraordinary
Volume 28, Issue 1 2014
5
f
or some, serendipity is evidence of God’s
handiwork and divine intervention at times
of need. Others take the viewpoint that there are
no “accidents” and life events are predetermined by
the blueprints of fate. The more scientific-minded may
simply chalk it up to the laws of probability.
So when a scientist who has spent his life
dealing with facts suddenly stays up all night
thinking about God, the universe and destiny,
you know something big has happened.
Something science can’t explain.
Ten Years and Counting
Stacy Erholtz had been fighting multiple
myeloma, a blood cancer, for 10 years.
“For the longest time, my local doctors
couldn’t figure out what was wrong with me,”
she says. “I suffered extreme exhaustion. I fell
and broke my back. I had two carpal tunnel
surgeries. I was nauseated all the time and
lost a ton of weight.”
She was so sick that she canceled a trip to
Denver celebrating her 40th birthday with
family. “I had calluses on my knuckles
because the only way I could climb stairs
was by crawling.”
When Stacy came to Mayo Clinic,
Stephen Russell, M.D., Ph.D., and the myeloma
team treated her with a number of therapies —
traditional chemotherapy, stem cell transplant,
novel anti-myeloma drugs. Each beat back the
cancer for a while, but it always returned.
Once while in remission, Stacy and her
husband saw Dr. Russell on the local news
talking about his measles virus study. Turning
to her husband, Stacy said, “I already let
Dr. Russell know that if my cancer comes
back, I want to enroll in that study.”
In time, Stacy’s cancer did return. While
meeting with her team of physicians at Mayo
Clinic, she inquired about the measles study
but learned she didn’t qualify.
“You have to be the biggest loser fi rst,”
Stacy says. “I needed to fail every type of
treatment available before I could qualify for the
study.” Stacy still had options — a novel drug
combination, then another stem cell transplant
using her previously harvested stem cells.
She endured months of a compromised immune
system, extreme exhaustion and nausea as her
bone marrow slowly rebuilt itself.
By the time Stacy was rebounding from her
second stem cell transplant, her cancer was
already returning. Within months she was
accepted into the measles virus clinical trial.
A Virus That Beats Cancer
Dr. Russell, the Richard O. Jacobson Professor
of Molecular Medicine, began researching the
cancer-fighting potential of the measles virus
more than 17 years ago. At that time, the best
evidence suggesting it might work was that a
doctor in Africa had reported a facial tumor
of a child with lymphoma temporarily receded
after he contracted measles.
Researchers have found that even though
cancer cells can freely proliferate, they cannot
ward off infection as easily as healthy cells.
Today, scientists can create viruses that are too
weak to damage healthy cells but are strong
enough to destroy tumor cells.
Mayo Clinic Cancer Center is the fi rst
institution to successfully use an engineered
After her remarkable
recovery, Stacy
Erholtz, center,
discovered she
knew the
benefactors who
helped make
it possible —
Mary Agnes and
Al McQuinn.
Volume 28, Issue 1 2014
7
Stephen Russell, M.D., Ph.D.,
is giving cancer a run for its
money by fighting it with the
measles virus.
measles virus as a cancer therapy, including
treatment of ovarian cancer and glioblastoma
multiforme (GBM), the most lethal brain
tumor. In 2006, Dr. Russell and his colleague
Angela Dispenzieri, M.D., started a clinical
trial to infuse multiple myeloma patients with
the modified measles virus.
Mayo Clinic has the infrastructure
and team to develop this technology
for patients. For instance,
Roberto Cattaneo, Ph.D., led
studies of measles biology and
the development of the virus
engineering technology. David
Dingli, M.D., Ph.D., made the
virus when he was working as
a Ph.D. student in Dr. Russell’s
8 Mayo Clinic Magazine
laboratory. Mark Federspiel, Ph.D.,
led manufacturing efforts. Kah
Whye Peng, Ph.D., conducted
pharmacology and toxicology
studies necessary to gain
approval from the Food and Drug
Administration. And Eva Galanis,
M.D., the Sandra J. Schulze
Professor, led the initial clinical
tests in ovarian cancer patients.
Patient 11.2
When Stacy entered the study last year, she
had multiple tumors on her clavicle, sternum,
vertebral body and skull. The tumor on her
forehead, which Stacy’s children named Evan,
had grown to about the size of a golf ball and
destroyed the bone of her skull, compressing
her brain.
A day and a half after Stacy received an
infusion of the cancer-fighting measles virus,
Evan began to disappear.
Two weeks after her treatment, Stacy couldn’t
remember feeling so good for so long — “My
energy quadrupled.”
Seven weeks after therapy all her tumors
and any signs of cancer were gone.
Over the years, researchers have reduced
single tumors with the measles virus, but Stacy
is the fi rst patient to go into complete remission
after having cancer spread throughout the body.
“ Walking into Dr. Russell’s lab was like a Willy
Wonka experience. I got to see behind the scenes
and meet the people who are dedicating their
life’s work to cure cancer with viruses.”
— Stacy Erholtz
She is the second person in the study, and the
world, to receive the modified measles virus
at the highest possible dose of 10 to the 11th
power (hence her participant number of 11.2).
After her infusion, Stacy learned she received
enough of the virus to vaccinate 10 million
people against measles. “I might have been
scared going into it if I’d known that,” she
says with a laugh.
Stacy is the fi rst person in history to have
had such a remarkable response, providing
hope for a powerful new therapy for cancer.
“This study is a milestone for the whole
field of oncolytic viral therapy,” Dr. Russell
says. “Not only because of Stacy’s remarkable
response, but this is the fi rst study to prove
that a virus can target cancer that is widely
disseminated throughout someone’s body.”
So when Stacy was invited to tour Dr. Russell’s
lab on September 13, four months after she
received her infusion, it was a historic visit.
But what happened at the lab is something
no one can explain.
The Serendipitous
“Walking into Dr. Russell’s lab was like a Willy
Wonka experience,” Stacy says. “I got to see
behind the scenes and meet the people who are
dedicating their life’s work to cure cancer with
viruses.” Among handshakes and hugs, Stacy
and her mom met with Dr. Russell’s team and
posed for pictures.
At one point, Dr. Russell asked Stacy to pose
with him by the plaque honoring Mary Agnes
and Al McQuinn, the benefactors who made his
research with the measles virus possible. After the
picture was snapped, Stacy looked at the plaque
and exclaimed, “Mary Agnes and Al McQuinn …
I know those people! I was friends with their son.”
Stacy knew their son Charles through her
work. And the McQuinns own a lake home just
up the road from Stacy, so their paths crossed
many times. “I just couldn’t believe it,” says Dr.
Russell. “These things just don’t happen.”
Mary Agnes and Al McQuinn are longtime
contributors to Mayo Clinic. In 2005 they were
fi rst introduced to Dr. Russell’s work with the
measles virus and have consistently supported
his study ever since.
“This study would not be possible without the
McQuinns,” Dr. Russell says. “Their support is
the reason we will be able to turn our research
into treatments to help patients like Stacy.”
Dr. Russell and his team provided the
McQuinns regular research updates and
milestones throughout the study. When patient
number 11.2 had a remarkable response, the
McQuinns were some of the fi rst to know.
So it’s understandable that Mary Agnes’s
heart fluttered with excitement as she dialed
the phone number left on her voicemail with
the message: “Hello, Mr. and Mrs. McQuinn.
This is patient 11.2. Please call me. I would
love to talk with you.”
Volume 28, Issue 1 2014
9
“Hello, Mr. and Mrs. McQuinn. This is patient
11.2. Please call me. I would love to talk with you.”
— Stacy Erholtz
Both Mary Agnes and Al were astonished
that after all their years of support, the first
really successful patient in Dr. Russell’s study
was someone they knew.
“It is truly miraculous,” says Mary Agnes.
Stacy and Mary Agnes spent a long time on
the phone talking about the study and their
intertwined lives and knew they had to
get together in person. Soon the McQuinns,
along with their daughter and son-in-law,
met Stacy and her mom for brunch.
“We had so much fun celebrating,”
Stacy says. “We chatted for hours.”
Evan’s Return and Demise
In January 2014, Evan, the lump on Stacy’s
forehead, started to return. It was cancerous,
but for the first time in her 10-year battle, it was
localized. Dr. Russell and his team successfully
treated it with radiation therapy, and there are
no other signs of cancer in Stacy’s body.
It’s been 10 years since Stacy was diagnosed
with cancer and had to cancel travel plans to
Denver in celebration of her 40th birthday. She
made that trip for her 50th birthday.
Stacy’s best friend, Mary
Krmpotich, left, and her
mom, Carol Carlson, have
stood resolutely by Stacy
during her 10-year battle
with blood cancer.
Al and Mary Agnes McQuinn, front center,
were early believers in the measles virus
work of Stephen Russell, M.D., Ph.D.,
back center, and his team.
It Takes a Village
Al McQuinn founded Ag-Chem Equipment
in 1963 and over 37 years turned it into a
multimillion-dollar company before selling it.
Al revolutionized crop farming with groundbreaking inventions that use global positioning
satellite (GPS) technology to assist farmers in
delivering fertilizers in precise concentrations to
exact locations for maximum production. He has
been recognized for shaping modern precision
agriculture and helping make American farming
the most efficient in the world.
Early in her husband’s demanding career,
and worried about his well-being, Mary Agnes
convinced the board of Ag-Chem Equipment to
pass a mandate requiring all executives to receive
a yearly medical checkup at Mayo Clinic. Both he
and Mary Agnes have been coming regularly since.
Al and Mary Agnes were so impressed with
the Mayo Clinic Model of Care and the seamless
health care they received that they soon became
Mayo Clinic benefactors. The two are accustomed
to the many risks associated with pioneering
an industry. So when they became aware of
Dr. Russell’s groundbreaking study on using
the measles virus to fight cancer, they wanted
to learn more.
Says Al, “I was quite taken with the
possibilities of changing a measles virus into
a cancer-killing virus.”
“We are more committed than ever to
supporting this research,” Mary Agnes says.
“I feel so very grateful to be part of it all.”
Agreeing, Al adds, “We all feel like we’ve been
given a great gift here — time, joy, faith, hope.”
Volume 28, Issue 1 2014
11
Honoring the Past
ENSURING THE FUTURE
1819-1846
William Worrall Mayo is born outside
Manchester, England. Growing up, he
witnesses the opportunities as well
as the oppression of the Industrial
Revolution and develops what his
family later describes as the “give
back” philosophy of using one’s
strength and resources to help others.
1889
1864
Dr. Mayo opens a medical
practice in Rochester, Minn.,
which evolves under his sons,
Dr. Will and Dr. Charlie, into
Mayo Clinic.
The Sisters of St. Francis establish
Saint Marys Hospital. Unlike many
hospitals of the day, it is not an asylum
for the poor or an elite convalescent
facility for the well-to-do. Rather, the
hospital is open to all.
1894
The Mayo brothers resolve
to live on half their incomes,
setting aside the balance for
a fund to support medical
education and research.
1846-1864
1869
W.W. Mayo moves to the
United States and earns
two medical degrees when
most physicians have no
formal education.
Dr. and Mrs. Mayo mortgage
their house to buy a microscope
to provide optimal care to his
patients. Mrs. Mayo says: “If
you could do better by the
people with this new microscope
… we’ll do it.”
12 Mayo Clinic Magazine
T
his year marks one of Mayo Clinic’s most
important junctures. It was 150 years ago
that William Worrall Mayo, M.D., opened his
practice in Rochester, Minn. Since then, Mayo
Clinic has built a unique practice that focuses a
team of experts on one patient at a time and puts
their needs first.
Over our 150 years, Mayo Clinic has never
wavered from our leadership role in medicine.
We earned our reputation through the most
cutting-edge research combined with dedicated,
compassionate physicians and health care teams.
The 150-year milestone makes it the perfect time
to launch YOU ARE ... The Campaign for Mayo
Clinic. This campaign is partnering with visionary
benefactors to ensure patients have exemplary
health care for the next 150 years. With their help,
we will ensure the future of medicine continues to
serve our patients and the common good while
staying true to Mayo Clinic’s heritage and values.
1907
The Mayo practice introduces
the revolutionary concept of the
integrated medical record,
setting a world standard of
documentation. Now in electronic
format, the Mayo medical record
is still in use today.
1928
1919
The Mayo brothers, having
developed a world-renowned
organization, donate the assets
of their medical practice and
the majority of their life savings
to establish Mayo Clinic as
not-for-profit organization.
Plummer Building opens with
innovations like the telecom
system that make the integrated
group medical practice possible.
1935
Mayo Clinic establishes the
first hospital-based blood
bank in the United States.
1920
Mayo Clinic introduces the
system of “grading” tumors
by severity, still in use today.
1930s
1914
Mayo Clinic opens the first building
designed for its unique model of
multispecialty, integrated care. At the
cornerstone ceremony, Dr. Will says:
“Within its walls all classes of people,
the poor as well as the rich, without
regard to color or creed, shall be cared
for without discrimination.”
In the midst of the Great Depression,
Mayo Clinic follows humane financial principles.
While many companies introduce tough
collection methods, the business manager at
the time, Harry Harwick, says, “We never did. On
the contrary, aware that many of our patients
were having trouble meeting even their foodshelter-clothing obligations, we tended toward
an even more lenient collection policy.”
Volume 28, Issue 1 2014
13
1950
1969
Mayo Clinic staff members
Edward Kendall, Ph.D., and
Philip Hench, M.D., receive the
Nobel Prize for the discovery
and clinical use of cortisone.
Mark Coventry, M.D., performs
the first FDA-approved total
hip replacement with a
prosthetic device.
1955
John Kirklin, M.D., introduces
the era of open-heart surgery
with successful use of the
heart-lung bypass machine.
1986
In its first expansion outside Minnesota,
Mayo Clinic opens in Jacksonville, Fla.
The philanthropic leadership of the
Davis family plays a key role in making
it possible for Mayo to undertake this
bold step.
1973
1987
Mayo Clinic introduces
revolutionary CT scanning to
North America.
Mayo Clinic opens in Scottsdale, Ariz.
The generous support of Mayo’s
patients and friends make this
expansion possible.
“THE GLORY OF MEDICINE IS THAT IT IS
CONSTANTLY MOVING FORWARD, THAT THERE
IS ALWAYS MORE TO LEARN.”
—William J. Mayo, M.D.
14 Mayo Clinic Magazine
2001
The Leslie and Susan Gonda Building
opens in Rochester, Minn. From art to
high-tech equipment, philanthropy
makes it possible for Mayo Clinic to
construct a facility that sets a new
world standard in health care design.
1992
Mayo Clinic Health System is
established to provide communitybased care with access to the
specialty services of Mayo Clinic.
2002
Mayo Clinic is named the first
multi-site Comprehensive
Cancer Center by the
National Cancer Institute.
1998
Mayo Clinic Hospital opens in Phoenix,
Ariz. Philanthropic support is vital to
the development of this first hospital
designed and built to Mayo’s
specifications, as well as the growth
of Mayo’s activities in Phoenix.
Mayo Clinic develops a
test for rapid diagnosis
of anthrax poisoning
after the terrorist attacks
of September 11.
2008
Mayo Clinic opens a hospital on
the Jacksonville, Fla., campus. Its
innovative design and patient-friendly
amenities are possible through
generous philanthropic support.
Volume 28, Issue 1 2014
15
2013
2011
Mayo Medical School announces plans
to expand to a new campus in Arizona.
Through its collaboration with Arizona
State University, the school will be one
of the first in the country to integrate
the science of health care delivery into
the medical curriculum. This added
knowledge will give doctors the tools
they need to transform the practice
of health care.
The new Emergency Department at
Mayo Clinic Hospital, Saint Marys
Campus is the first in the nation to
embed a clinical engineering lab.
Health care researchers collaborate
in a live patient-care environment to
design, test and implement better
models of care.
2014
Mayo implements new genetic
tests for cancers of the colon,
lung and brain that reveal the
specific type of each cancer
so doctors can more precisely
target treatments right away.
To recognize 150 years of serving
humanity and to chart the course for
the future, Mayo Clinic launches The
Campaign for Mayo Clinic with a goal
to raise $3 billion by the end of 2017.
We are laying the groundwork for
another 150 years of giving patients
hope and healing.
“... IF WE EXCEL IN
ANYTHING, IT IS IN
OUR CAPACITY FOR
TRANSLATING IDEALISM
INTO ACTION.”
2012
A Mayo Clinic physician co-leads
an international study that injects
bone marrow stem cells treated
with growth factors directly into
diseased hearts. The study shows
the technique, administered after a
heart attack, improves heart pump
function and overall patient fitness.
16 Mayo Clinic Magazine
Mayo is the first institution
in U.S. to gain approval from
the FDA to produce and
administer the Choline C-11
Injection, an imaging agent
that detects recurrent
prostate cancer much earlier
than traditional imaging
techniques — allowing
doctors to identify and treat
cancer earlier.
—Charles H. Mayo, M.D.
THE
DIFFERENCE
As a not-for-profit organization,
Mayo Clinic reinvests all earnings
into giving patients high-quality care,
finding answers to the toughest
medical cases, and training the next
generation of doctors and researchers.
Reinvestment lays the foundation
for everything we do, and because
Mayo Clinic is on the forefront of
health care, we see our benefactors
as co-visionaries who imagine the
unimaginable.
These following pages are priorities
of The Campaign for Mayo Clinic. They
represent how we are transforming
medicine, quickening the pace of
knowledge to delivery of care, and
discovering new cures and treatments.
Together, with benefactor leadership
and partnership, we will establish a
new world standard in health care.
Volume 28, Issue 1 2014
17
P RI O R I TI ES REGENERATIVE MEDICINE
Regenerative Medicine
Regenerative medicine at Mayo Clinic harnesses its collective
knowledge, resources and skills to teach the body to heal from
within. This unprecedented science offers patients definitive solutions
for devastating diseases and conditions.
where I’d be right now if I hadn’t
been accepted into the study
or gotten the stem cells. It was
like winning the lottery.”
OUR PROMISE
Ted Haakonson
THE URGENCY
Patient Number Five
“We thought, ‘jeez, this cure
has to start somewhere,
someone has to be patient
zero,’” says Ted Haakonson.
He is patient number five in
the Center for Regenerative
Medicine’s clinical trial testing
stem cells to treat amyotrophic
lateral sclerosis (ALS, or
Lou Gehrig’s disease).
He was shocked when his
local doctor told him he had
ALS two years ago. The only
symptom he had noticed was
a weak thumb. But by the time
18 Mayo Clinic Magazine
the 49-year-old received the
stem cell treatment at Mayo
Clinic a year later, both his
hands were weak, his legs
twitched uncontrollably and he
fell asleep several times a day.
Within a couple of weeks,
his legs became steadier and
his energy levels rose.
“I’m of the belief that it has
helped quite a bit,” Ted says.
“The rate of progression
seems to have slowed, and
I’m still doing whatever I want
to do. Some things like baking
and woodworking take a lot
longer, but I hate to think of
Engineering a Cure
In ALS, nerve cells in the brain
and spinal cord progressively
degenerate and eventually die,
leaving the brain unable to
control muscle movement.
There is no cure. But Mayo
Clinic’s Anthony J. Windebank,
M.D., deputy director-Discovery
of the Center for Regenerative
Medicine, and Nathan P. Staff,
M.D., Ph.D., are providing
new hope.
The team in the Human Cell
Therapy Lab takes cells from
fat tissue and re-engineers
them into stem cells. They then
enhance the ability of these
cells — technically known as
mesenchymal stem cells — to
promote nerve health.
As part of the country’s fi rst
phase one stem cell trial for
ALS patients, the team placed
these cells directly into Ted’s
spinal fluid, believing the stem
cells would secrete growth
factors and protect nerve cells
from further degeneration.
“The experimental innovators of
the past are now the regenerative
medicine researchers of the future.”
— Jorge Bacardi
Leslie and Jorge Bacardi
The investigators quickly
caution that the primary
goal of phase one studies
is to measure safety, which
makes the investigators
grateful to participants like
Ted who selflessly enter the
unknown. The investigators
also caution that not all trial
participants describe the
same improvements as Ted,
though they are confident
the technology is on the right
track to benefit patients with
this uniformly fatal disease.
DEFINING DIFFERENCE
More Options
Like Ted, Jorge Bacardi knows
what it’s like to face an incurable,
progressive disease.
For most of his life he battled
ciliary dyskinesia, a rare genetic
disorder in which his cilia
(small hair-like structures in the
lung) failed to move mucus out
of his lungs. As a result, his
airways were often blocked.
The problem grew slowly worse
until it threatened his life.
Fortunately, his doctors at Mayo
Clinic in Florida had an option
— a double-lung transplant.
Patients like Ted don’t have
such an option, and Jorge and
his wife, Leslie, are working
to change that by supporting
the Center for Regenerative
Medicine.
“With the advancement of
regenerative medicine, what we
once thought of as science fiction
is today becoming reality,”
they say. “The experimental
innovators of the past are now
the regenerative medicine
researchers of the future. The
codes and secrets that they
have uncovered will set the
bedrock for people, one day,
to be able to heal themselves
— an extraordinary step in the
evolution of mankind.”
Volume 28, Issue 1 2014
19
P RI O R I TI ES SCIENCE OF HEALTH CARE DELIVERY
Science of Health Care Delivery
The Mayo Clinic Robert D. and Patricia E. Kern Center for the Science
of Health Care Delivery is home to leading physicians, researchers,
systems engineers and social scientists who use their collective
knowledge to research innovative ways to improve health care and
put those discoveries to work for patients everywhere.
THE URGENCY
System Out of Sync
The physician holds a
stethoscope to the heart of the
U.S. health care system, but
rather than hearing a steady
beat, she detects an arrhythmia.
The vital signs are concerning.
The heart pumps hard. The
U.S. spends up to 200 percent more
on health care than the median
of similar industrialized nations.
But resources circulate
inefficiently throughout the
patient’s body, causing it to
function unpredictably. While
outperforming its peers on measures
like the 5-year survival rate for
breast cancer, the U.S.’s 30-day
in-hospital mortality rate for heart
attack patients falls in its peers’
mid-range. At the same time, the
rate of lower extremity amputations
for diabetes patients is three times
the median of these same
industrialized nations.
After taking stock of all
the symptoms, the physician
enters her diagnosis on the
U.S. health care system’s
medical record: arrhythmia
caused by deficiency in value.
OUR PROMISE
A New Prescription
Common sense dictates that
the world’s most expensive
health care system should also
be its best. But despite the high
price tag, Americans don’t
get the best value. With a
20 Mayo Clinic Magazine
150-year history of delivering
integrated, high-value, patientcentered care, Mayo Clinic is
formulating a new remedy.
Experts at the Mayo Clinic
Robert D. and Patricia E. Kern
Center for the Science of Health
Care Delivery use engineering
principles, data analytics,
computer-based simulation
and other scientific methods
to design, test and prove best
practices in delivering care.
The center tackles a wide
range of issues, from reducing
surgical-site infections, to
helping people best manage
chronic conditions, to creating
smart technology that predicts
sudden changes in the sickest
hospital patients.
By collaborating with health
care organizations, academic
leaders and industry partners,
the center shares its findings
broadly to heal the health care
system at its core.
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010 0010 01100 0101 10110 01000
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001 0010 01000 1010 01011 00010 11010
0
1
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010 1001 10100 0010 10101 01010 11000 10
1
0
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100 0010 11001 1011 10100 00110 10001 01
0
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010 0110 01000 1010 00101 10110 10010 01
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1
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DEFINING DIFFERENCE
100 1001 01010 0010 01100 10001 01101 00
101
011
0
‘This Changes Everything’
0
100
101
000 1010 01100 01
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A mechanical engineer and
01
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successful businessman,
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00
Robert Kern and his wife,
01
10
1
001
Patricia, know there is
001 0101 10010 0
01
1
011
something special about the
010 0001 0
10
001
way Mayo Clinic delivers care.
011
“The whole combination
0
makes you know you’re going
to leave a lot better than you
came,” Patricia says of her
visits to Mayo.
In 2011, they gave Mayo
Clinic $20 million to launch
the Center for the Science of
Health Care Delivery. With
their recent gift of more than
$67 million to expand its
operations, Mayo Clinic
recognizes the couple’s
transformative philanthropy
by naming the center in
their honor.
“This changes everything,”
says John Noseworthy, M.D.,
president and CEO of Mayo
Clinic. “With the Kerns’
support, Mayo Clinic will
reengineer health care
to improve safety, quality
and value.”
“Importantly,” Dr. Noseworthy
adds, “the Kerns’ gift empowers
us to share these fi ndings with
hospitals, clinics and nursing
homes across the country so
that patients everywhere get
the high-quality, high-value
care they need and deserve.”
Despite the high price tag for health care,
Americans don’t get the best value. Mayo
Clinic is formulating a new remedy.
Volume 28, Issue 1 2014
21
P RI O R I TI ES INDIVIDUALIZED MEDICINE
Individualized Medicine
The Mayo Clinic Center for Individualized Medicine applies each person’s
genetic code to better diagnose, treat, predict and prevent disease.
THE URGENCY
A Mysterious Disease
The genomic counselor brought
good news — the Individualized
Medicine Clinic team had
found the culprit gene. Renata
Burdell knew her son’s medical
odyssey was fi nally over.
“It has made such a huge
difference,” Renata says. “We
don’t have to keep wondering
and going from one specialist
to another looking for a reason
for Javrie’s symptoms.”
In one sense, what she and
her husband, Josiah Burdell,
sought for their 6-year-old son,
Javrie, was simple — a name
for his condition. A seemingly
endless parade of local caregivers
failed to give them answers,
leaving them fearful for Javrie’s
future after a baffl ing array of
epilepsy, developmental delays,
a weakened musculoskeletal
system and more. Would he get
worse? Would he live a normal
life? A long life?
The results from Mayo Clinic
demystified the disease,
and now they can focus on
treatments to help Javrie live
life to the fullest.
“It’s such a relief,” Renata
says. “Other than the care we
got from our local pediatrician,
we have never gotten the same
level of care that we got at the
Mayo Clinic.”
OUR PROMISE
Finding Answers
To provide the Burdells answers,
the Individualized Medicine
Clinic team conducted genomic
sequencing on Javrie and his
parents. It revealed a rare
mutation on the PACS1 gene that
scientists in the Netherlands
had recently linked to similar
symptoms in two boys.
In Javrie, the genetic
alteration is known as a de novo
mutation, meaning that neither
parent possessed or passed
on this mutation. It happened,
instead, at some point during
very early pregnancy or during
replication of his parents’ sperm
or egg cells.
“The mutation identified in
Javrie causes a syndrome so rare
that it doesn’t yet have a name,”
says Kimberly Schahl, C.G.C,
the genomic counselor who
“Our hope is that they will continue to
study and research genomes in hopes
of finding cures and treatments that
are specific to each patient.”
— Neil and Sue Eckles
Kilonna, Josiah, Renata and Javrie Burdell
22 Mayo Clinic Magazine
Javrie Burdell
worked with the Burdells to
secure a diagnosis. “There have
been only two other reported
cases. Without the use of wholeexome sequencing, this family
likely would have a much longer
wait to end their odyssey.”
DEFINING DIFFERENCE
A Confident Commitment
Neil and Sue Eckles first donated
to Mayo Clinic’s breast cancer
research, but as their support
grew, they realized the Center
for Individualized Medicine
could deliver on their hope of
providing individualized treatments and care for those with
cancer or other rare disorders.
“It appears to us, as lay
people, that individualized
medicine is the wave of the
future for so many diseases
such as cancer, diabetes and
other rare illnesses dependent
on genetic factors,” Sue says.
Benefactors like the Eckles
are essential to making
individualized medicine a
reality for more patients like
Javrie. And they are seeing
their support make people’s
lives better.
“We read amazing stories
about children like Javrie. It
must be a tremendous relief
to him and his parents to
understand the genetic issues
involved in their son’s illness
because of research through
the center at the Mayo Clinic,”
Sue says. “Our hope for the
Mayo Clinic and Center for
Individualized Medicine is
that they will continue to
study and research genomes
in hopes of fi nding cures and
treatments that are specific
to each patient.”
Volume 28, Issue 1 2014
23
P RI O R I TI ES BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH
Biomedical Research
Mayo Clinic applies basic science to unlock the destructive secrets
of cells and genes and discovers how to repair or reverse the damage.
We then translate that knowledge into first-time cures and treatments
for a wide range of life-threatening diseases and chronic conditions.
THE URGENCY
Alyssa McCabe
24 Mayo Clinic Magazine
No Early Signs
One day, 25-year-old Alyssa
McCabe just fainted.
“I got up, and as I was
walking through the hall, I
just fell to the floor and started
to seize up,” Alyssa says. “I
blacked out and was completely
incoherent. My husband called
for an ambulance.”
Paramedics monitored her
heart’s electrical activity. They
found an abnormal rhythm,
which soon returned to normal.
But questions lingered. What
happened? She was young,
exercised regularly, watched her
diet, and appeared in nearperfect health. Was it serious?
Mayo Clinic soon diagnosed
her with long QT syndrome,
a hereditary condition whose
fi rst indication can be sudden
death. Alyssa was one of the
lucky ones.
“At fi rst I was shocked,”
Alyssa says. “I wasn’t expecting
the results to come back
as long QT, even though it
was brought up at my initial
consultation. Additional testing
showed the same heart rhythm
abnormality as before, but a
genetic blood test confi rmed it.
“Without Mayo Clinic, I may
not have been diagnosed until
it was too late.”
OUR PROMISE
Developing the Warning
Michael J. Ackerman, M.D.,
Ph.D., and his team at the
Mayo Clinic Windland
Smith Rice Sudden Death
Genomics Laboratory have
so far discovered 12 genes
that predispose patients to
various genetic heart diseases
that cause sudden death,
including long QT syndrome.
(The QT interval measures
the heart’s electrical cycle
during a beat. In long QT
syndrome, a genetic defect
disrupts the time it takes for
the heart to recharge for the
next heartbeat.)
“Not only have they enabled our discoveries, our benefactor
partners have saved many lives and helped countless
other families live and thrive despite their diagnosis.”
— Michael J. Ackerman, M.D., Ph.D.
Because of the possibility of
QT-related or QT-triggered
death, Dr. Ackerman and his
team developed the world’s first
institution-wide QTc system that
alerts physicians across all of
Mayo’s specialties if their
patient displays a potentially
dangerous QT signal.
Mayo Clinic has also retooled
a surgery fi rst performed more
than 100 years ago to treat long
QT. Using a minimally invasive
approach, Mayo has performed
more videoscopic surgeries
than any program in the world.
By linking basic genetic
discoveries with other
investigations across many
areas of research and by
actually seeing the patients and
families affl icted with these
conditions, Mayo Clinic has
become one of the premier
destination centers in the world
for families with sudden-death
genetic heart rhythm conditions
like long QT syndrome.
DEFINING DIFFERENCE
Before It’s Too Late
Mayo Clinic works to
identify patients at risk for
long QT syndrome before
it’s too late. Dr. Ackerman
credits the acceleration of
his team’s research to Mayo
Clinic benefactors Mr. and
Mrs. Frederick W. Smith and
family, whose generous gift
established the Windland
Smith Rice Comprehensive
Sudden Cardiac Death Program.
“Not only have they enabled
our discoveries, our benefactor
partners have saved many
lives and helped countless
other families live and thrive
despite their diagnosis,”
says Dr. Ackerman, who is
the Windland Smith Rice
Cardiovascular Genomics
Research Professor.
To date, Mayo Clinic has
evaluated more than 1,500
patients. Dr. Ackerman
currently cares for more than
800 patients with long QT
syndrome. And because of
benefactors like the Smith
family, patients like Alyssa
are getting the help they
need before it’s too late.
Thanks to the Smith family’s generosity and
vision, Mayo has evaluated more than 1,500
patients. Dr. Ackerman currently cares for more
than 800 patients with long QT syndrome.
Volume 28, Issue 1 2014
25
P RI O R I TI ES PROTON BEAM THERAPY PROGRAM
Proton Beam Therapy Program
Mayo Clinic spearheads the most advanced cancer treatments while
deploying the most innovative technologies to diagnose and prevent
cancer in the 21st century. Our new weapon against cancer is pencil
beam scanning proton beam therapy, which delivers concentrated
radiation to tumors without exposing surrounding healthy tissues.
THE URGENCY
Harmful Side Effects
During her residency, Stephanie
Childs, M.D., experienced the
power of proton beam therapy
firsthand.
“The difference this technology
makes in the lives of cancer
patients is profound,” she says,
“especially for children.”
Traditional radiation
treatments can have strong
negative side effects, including
memory loss, muscle loss,
nausea and vomiting.
The effects can be more
pronounced in children, who
also have a much greater risk
for developing secondary
cancers caused by radiation.
As a resident, Dr. Childs
compared the side effects of
proton beam therapy to those
of conventional radiation and
published results showing
proton beam treatment has
fewer long-lasting side effects.
She’ll deliver this expertise to
patients when the Mayo Clinic
Proton Beam Therapy
Program opens in 2015 in
Rochester, Minn., and in 2016
in Phoenix, Ariz.
“I’m exactly where I want
to be,” says Dr. Childs, “at
Mayo Clinic helping patients,
especially children, fight
cancer with the world’s most
sophisticated proton beam
equipment.”
OUR PROMISE
Turning Hope Into Healing
It takes big technology to target
cancer with submillimeter
accuracy. At the heart of each
Mayo Clinic proton beam facility
is a synchrotron, which is a
particle accelerator that weighs
about the same as a tank, is
55 feet in circumference and
Stephanie Childs, M.D.
26 Mayo Clinic Magazine
“The difference this technology makes in the
lives of cancer patients is profound.”
— Stephanie Childs, M.D.
accelerates protons to nearly
two-thirds the speed of light.
When protons reach the
exact energy level needed to
treat a cancer at a specific
location and depth in the body,
the synchrotron releases them
into a focused beam that races
along a guided path to a
patient’s treatment room. Here
the beam of particles passes
through healthy tissue to deposit
the proton’s cancer-killing
radiation directly into the tumor.
The protons, smaller than
atoms, “paint” the tumor
precisely. This precision causes
very little, if any, damage to
surrounding tissue, especially
when compared to traditional
radiation treatment, which
harms everything in its path.
The Mayo Clinic Proton
Beam Therapy Program will
use the most precise form of
proton therapy — pencil beam
scanning. It is very effective in
treating cancer throughout the
body and especially beneficial
for complex tumors, like those
in the brain and eye.
Patients benefit from pencil
beam scanning because it
decreases the number of
treatments in select patients,
creates fewer side effects and
lowers the incidence of recurrent
cancer — reducing overall
health care costs. This therapy
is especially beneficial for
children, who are at higher
risk for radiation damage
because their bones and
organs are still developing.
DEFINING DIFFERENCE
In Memory of Betty
“One of the most heartwrenching things about cancer
is standing on the sideline,
watching a loved one fight the
disease and suffer from the
side effects of treatment,” says
Rev. Robert Lawrence, who
lost his wife, Betty, to cancer.
As a board member of
the Oliver S. and Jennie
R. Donaldson Charitable
Trust, he has helped direct
the organization’s charitable
giving. Over the last 20 years,
the trust has focused on
fighting cancer, giving more
than $1 million toward Mayo
Clinic’s cancer research.
But three years ago, board
members decided to focus on
Mayo Clinic’s cancer work
from a different standpoint
and made a philanthropic
investment in the Mayo Clinic
Proton Beam Therapy Program.
“Mayo Clinic is always on
the cutting edge of health care,”
Rev. Lawrence says. “They offer
their patients the best possible
treatments. Our support will
help patients from all over the
world beat their cancers.”
The most recent gift from the
trust to the Mayo Clinic Proton
Beam Therapy Program is in
Betty’s memory to help patients
win their battles against cancer.
“They offer their patients the best
possible treatments. Our support will
help patients from all over the world
beat their cancers.”
— Rev. Robert Lawrence
Volume 28, Issue 1 2014
27
P RI O R I TI ES MAYO MEDICAL SCHOOL
Mayo Medical School
Mayo Medical School is the crucible for developing the hearts and
minds of teachers and students who dedicate themselves to put the
needs of the patient first, enhance medical science and shape the
future practice of medicine.
THE URGENCY
A Daughter in Need
When Robin Sly’s mother arrived
at the emergency department,
her prognosis was grim. Her
mother had beaten the odds
often, but this time it didn’t
look like she’d pull through.
Robin found solace with Abby
L’Heureux, a Mayo Medical
School student on rotation
with the team assigned to
her mother’s care.
“Abby was there with a
gentle hand, a soothing
voice, and a quiet comfort,”
says Robin. “Without ever
overstepping her medical
knowledge, she answered
my questions and concerns,
and truly consoled me. In a
sense, she became ‘my doctor.’”
As the medical team worked
on answers for Robin’s mother,
Abby humbly observed their
expertise in action. As the care
progressed, Abby turned her
attention to Robin and guided
her through the care process.
“Abby was there every step
of the way, always during the
times when a daughter losing a
mother most needed it,” says
Robin. “The future Dr. Abby
L’Heureux is amongst the
fi nest medical professionals I
have ever had the privilege of
interacting with.”
OUR PROMISE
Inspiring the Next
Generation
Mayo Medical School instills
the next generation of
physician-leaders with respect,
teamwork, and compassion.
It prepares students like Abby
Abby L’Heureux
28 Mayo Clinic Magazine
“With this gift we are supporting students becoming
ambassadors of Mayo around the world.”
— Calvin “CJ” Johnson
to be both exceptional doctors
and leaders with the tools
to transform medicine and
health care.
Mayo Medical School
nurtures and develops skills
they can use to educate and
inspire others to care for the
complete patient.
Mayo medical students
carry forward Mayo Clinic’s
heritage — 150 years of
clinical expertise — combined
with a new medical school
curriculum that incorporates
the science of health care
delivery, blended learning,
interprofessional education
and health and wellness.
Mayo Medical School provides
the right environment for future
physician-leaders like Abby to
hone their clinical acumen and
raise the standard for health care.
DEFINING DIFFERENCE
Uniting Forces
Calvin “CJ” Johnson, president
of Healthcare Systems at Sodexo,
calls Mayo Clinic one of the
world’s few “enlightened health
care institutions.” That’s why
he convinced his company, an
international service company,
to make a significant donation
to the Mayo Medical School.
“When we give large gifts
like this, there has to be an
aligning of missions,” he says.
“Both Mayo Clinic and Sodexo
strive to improve the lives of
those we touch every day.”
One aspect of those missions
is commitment to diversity,
which Sodexo believes critical
for success. The company
operates in more than 70
countries on every continent
except Antarctica, so it knows
fi rsthand that an approach that
works in Phoenix, Ariz., might
not work in Sana’a, Yemen, or
Santiago, Chile.
“With this gift we are
supporting students becoming
ambassadors of Mayo around
the world,” CJ says. He hopes
the gift will enhance Mayo
Medical School’s effort to recruit
people from all walks of life
and, upon graduation, students
will take the Mayo Clinic Model
of Care home with them and
adapt it to their culture, wherever
they may live.
Volume 28, Issue 1 2014
29
P RI O R I TI ES MAYO CLINIC MODEL OF CARE
Mayo Clinic Model of Care
The Mayo Clinic Model of Care is our enduring blueprint for putting
the needs of the patient at the center of everything we do. This model
is the gold standard of patient care. Unhurried, comprehensive and
thoughtful examinations are the foundation of delivering high-quality
health care.
THE URGENCY
A Worried Mother
When Kelly and Cindy
Stevenson adopted their
daughter, Annie, from South
Korea, they were fi lled with
the pride, joy and excitement
that come with having a new
6-month-old around the house.
Just three months later,
however, that joy and excitement
were muted by worry, after local
doctors diagnosed Annie with
cerebral palsy.
By the time Annie was 5 years
old, her condition caused so
much “spasticity” in her legs
that her bones began to twist
like stripes on a barbershop pole.
One of her legs turned inward
nearly 90 degrees, leaving Annie
unable to walk by herself.
“I just worried,” Cindy says.
“I had a lot of fear. I wasn’t sure
if she’d be able to walk. There
was no question — we were
just going to go to Mayo. We
felt like they were going to be
the best solution.”
Within a few years, Annie’s
condition improved so
dramatically that she was
competing in cross-country races.
OUR PROMISE
Focusing a Team
At Mayo Clinic, Annie and her
parents met with orthopedic
surgeon William Shaughnessy,
M.D., and Sherilyn Driscoll,
M.D., a rehabilitation medicine
specialist who focused Mayo’s
Motion Analysis (Gait) Lab on
Annie. In the Gait Lab, a team
of physical therapists, engineers
and kinesiologists gained
precise data on how she walked,
how her muscles functioned,
and how her bones moved.
“There were about 15 people
all looking at video and data
on Annie and giving opinions
about what was going on,”
Annie Stevenson
30 Mayo Clinic Magazine
“This is what makes the Mayo Model of Care
work every day. I support Mayo Clinic to
preserve, protect and perpetuate that model.”
— Jay Alix
Annie and Cindy Stevenson
Dr. Shaughnessy says. “We all
came to a consensus about how
we could improve her condition.
Every time I work with this
team, I come out of it thinking
how impressive it is that we get
all of these talented people
together to come up with a plan.”
Annie’s plan was surgery.
Surgeons cut and rotated her
femurs to make them straight.
They cut and lengthened her
muscles and tendons to correct
tight hamstrings and a tight
Achilles tendon. To fi x a stiff
knee joint, they transferred a
muscle from the front of her
thigh to the back of her leg.
A year later Dr. Driscoll sent
Annie back to the Gait Lab.
“It was remarkable,”
Dr. Shaughnessy says. “She
walked normally.”
approach long before he came
to Mayo for a routine physical
nearly 20 years ago.
“As a business person and
adviser to global companies,
I was struck by how well Mayo
runs and how professional
everyone was,” says the man
Forbes Magazine calls one of
America’s “most respected
experts” on corporate
turnarounds.
Jay has looked at the inner
workings of “hundreds and
hundreds” of companies all
over the world. He was the
chief architect of the 2009
restructuring plan that turned
around General Motors. In his
experience, Mayo Clinic is “one
of most highly functioning
companies I’ve ever seen.”
“Mayo is more than 60,000
people, yet everyone knows
and excels in their role in
advancing the mission of
putting the needs of the patient
fi rst,” he says. “This is what
makes the Mayo Clinic Model
of Care work every day. People
come to Mayo when it really
matters. That’s why I support
Mayo Clinic, to preserve, protect
and perpetuate that model.”
DEFINING DIFFERENCE
The Chief Architect
The integrated multidisciplinary
team approach that helped
Annie is central to the Mayo
Clinic Model of Care. Jay Alix
studied the effectiveness of that
William Shaughnessy, M.D.
Sherilyn Driscoll, M.D.
Volume 28, Issue 1 2014
31
P RI O R I TI ES CAPITAL PROJECTS
Capital Projects
Strategic investments at all Mayo Clinic locations will fortify the patient care
we deliver today and build on our strong foundation for continued success.
When you come to Mayo, our facilities and services revolve around you. Our
assets — from our buildings to our technology to our resources — make our
patient experience unparalleled.
To get him the care he needs,
his doctors transfer him to one
of Mayo Clinic’s critical access
hospitals about 40 miles away
in Cannon Falls, Minn. There
he receives 24-hour nursing
care, meals tailored to his
condition and physical therapy.
A physician works with social
workers, dietitians, physical
therapists and pharmacists
to ensure the best recovery
possible.
After more than four
months, he boards a plane
and fl ies home.
OUR PROMISE
THE URGENCY
A Long, Hard Recovery
A Mayo Clinic MedAir jet fl ies
a man from the western United
States to Rochester, Minn. He
has swollen feet, no appetite
and can’t get out of his chair
most days — symptoms his
local doctors can’t diagnose.
Doctors at Mayo Clinic
quickly figure out he has
polyarteritis nodosa, a condition
that inflames vessels and
32 Mayo Clinic Magazine
arteries, limiting their ability
to move blood throughout the
body. Unfortunately, by the
time the man comes to Mayo,
his kidney and colon already
suffer damage, forcing doctors
to remove a kidney and part of
his colon.
By the time he leaves surgery,
he has lost more than a third of
his body weight, plummeting to
less than 90 pounds. His recovery
is going to be long and hard.
Renewing Care
Studies have shown that in
smaller hospitals, patients
socialize more. There’s less
activity going on around them
and they can dress in their own
clothes. Patients who leave
tertiary care for this kind of
community setting get better
faster and stay better longer.
By partnering with the
community, this year Mayo
Clinic will open a new facility
“I think it’ll be a magnet for high-quality caregivers
who want to work in first-class facilities.”
— Jim Weinel
in Cannon Falls to not only
help patients who need longer
recoveries, but to give the
community the health care it
needs and deserves.
Since the current hospital was
built 50 years ago, health care
delivery and patient expectations
have changed — an emergency
room consisting of a backdoor
leading to a narrow hallway and
small, shared patient rooms no
longer meet patient expectations.
With benefactor support,
the new facility combines a
hospital and clinic. It will be
two-and-a-half-times larger,
increase access to emergency
care and streamline access to
Mayo Clinic when needed.
And it will combine the power
of Mayo Clinic specialties with
small-town familiarity.
with $150 in cash. Today the
company has 23 plants in seven
locations, but Cannon Falls
will always be home.
“We’re a Cannon Falls
business,” says Jim. “We were
founded in Cannon Falls with
Cannon Falls people. That
hospital has helped a lot of our
workers over the years.”
When Mayo Clinic and the
community started exploring a
new hospital, Jim and Sharon
were two of the fi rst to make
a donation. They believe their
leadership gift will have an
Jim and Sharon Weinel
amplifying affect on health
care in Cannon Falls.
“I hope the new facility
attracts high-quality physicians
to Cannon Falls,” says Jim,
who has been coming to Mayo
Clinic for more than 45 years.
“I think it’ll be a magnet for
high-quality caregivers who
want to work in fi rst-class
facilities.” That’s a gift that
will keep on giving.
DEFINING DIFFERENCE
Repaying a Debt
Jim and Sharon Weinel are
indebted to the people of
Cannon Falls, where the couple
started the sign letter company
Gemini Incorporated in 1963
Volume 28, Issue 1 2014
33
YOU A R E ... THE PARTNER
Halle
Kern
Barksdale
Gage & Nelson
34 Mayo Clinic Magazine
Herndon
Visionary benefactors are the vital
catalysts behind Mayo Clinic’s
pioneering patient care, breakthrough
medical research and world-class
educational programs. This union of
forces on behalf of the patient yields
both an art and a science approach to
medicine that benefactors recognize
as necessary ingredients to innovation.
Our benefactors and physicianleaders share the need for tackling the
imponderables. The high purpose of
philanthropy is far-reaching at Mayo
and inspires our researchers, scientists
and physicians to reach new heights in
medicine. Having someone believe in
our work is an immense gift. The result
is better health for our patients and
solutions to the problems facing our
health care system.
Volume 28, Issue 1 2014
35
YOU A R E ... THE PARTNER
A Firm Faith
Kerns Give $100 Million to Help Others
Ask just about any accomplished businessperson to describe their recipe
for success, and you’re sure to hear words like diligence, persistence,
discipline. Ask Robert and Patricia Kern, who built Generac Power
Systems, one of the largest manufacturers of generators in the world,
and the answer may surprise you.
“Perseverance and tenacity aren’t anything
special,” Robert says. “They are the outgrowth
of establishing some goals in life. If you have
focus, goals and desires, then they’re just a
natural outcome.”
The plainspoken Wisconsinites know a thing
or two about the power of setting goals, which
they reveal through equal parts humility and
wit. Robert, a mechanical engineer by trade,
spent seven years building generators for railway
passenger cars until the advent of the Boeing 707
jet airliner shuttered that part of the company.
“So we needed something else to do, didn’t
we?” Robert recollects with a knowing smile.
“Couldn’t just sit around,” Patricia answers,
wryly noting that at the time, they had two
young girls and a third on the way.
‘A Real Eye-Opener’
The Kerns grew Generac in the 1950s and early
1960s from a two-person operation run out of
a garage to a 64,000-square-foot plant. Thanks
36 Mayo Clinic Magazine
to the sales platform of Sears, Roebuck, & Co.,
Robert says, business was booming. And then
the fi re struck.
“Telephone rang and Bob said, ‘I think you
better come over, Pat. Plant is burning down.’
So the girls and I got in the car and drove the
back roads. And it was horrible.”
Although Robert politely dismisses
perseverance as nothing special, most businesses
wouldn’t have survived such a catastrophic event.
But the Kerns rallied. And the people around
them rallied. Within six days, they shipped a new
batch of generators, which were assembled in the
parking lot from pieces that weren’t in the fire.
No one lost work or a paycheck.
In the years that followed, Generac rebuilt the
plant, business flourished, and the Kerns traveled
the world in pursuit of business partnerships. But
as they reflect on the aftermath of the plant fire
— the outpouring of support from employees,
neighbors and people they didn’t even know —
Robert and Patricia are still in awe.
Patricia and Robert Kern see
generosity as the product of
their upbringing and faith.
“We got home that night and there was
food on the table,” Patricia recalls more than
50 years later. “It was a real eye-opener.”
Generosity Isn’t a Choice
The Kerns resist taking credit for the generous
bonuses they gave employees after selling
Generac in 2006, or for the philanthropic activities
they now undertake through the Kern Family
Foundation, which promotes engineering talent,
K-12 education reform and pastoral leadership.
“It’s not anything we contributed at all,”
Robert explains. “That came from the tradition
of our parents and religious beliefs. I don’t think
we grew up thinking there was any other way
of living life.”
It was his father, a Baptist minister,
who fi rst drove 5-year-old Robert in
a Model A Ford from Iowa to Mayo
Clinic for specialized care in 1930, after
an attempt to remove his tonsils by a
local doctor created special concerns.
In the early years, it was the Mayo
tradition to provide medical support
at no charge to clergy and their families,
an unanticipated but welcome benefit.
More than 80 years later, the Kerns
visit Mayo Clinic as loyal patients and
generous benefactors. In 2013, the couple
reached $100 million in giving to Mayo
Clinic, with more than $87 million supporting
the Mayo Clinic Robert D. and Patricia E. Kern
Center for the Science of Health Care Delivery,
and the remainder dedicated to neuroscience
research and education.
Robert says any accolades are undeserved.
“We didn’t have anything to say about the
way we were brought up.”
“I don’t think we grew up thinking there
was any other way of living life.”
— Robert Kern
Volume 28, Issue 1 2014
37
YOU A R E ... THE PARTNER
The Science of Optimism
The engineer in Robert sees parallels between
manufacturing a better product and delivering
better health care. Consumers demand value,
and patients are no different.
“We’re living in a very rapidly changing
world. It’s true in the engineering world, it’s
true in the manufacturing world, and it’s very,
very true in the medical field,” he says.
But while industry has applied engineering
principles to optimize production, health care
has lagged behind. Today, high-quality, safe,
affordable care is not the norm in the U.S., where
each year 100,000 people die from preventable
medical errors and health care spending accounts
for more than 17 percent of GDP.
Home to leading physicians, systems engineers,
social scientists and other nationally recognized
experts, the Mayo Clinic Kern Center for the
Science of Health Care Delivery seeks to eliminate
that variability and share best practices that
achieve best value. By employing data analysis,
engineering principles and scientific rigor, the
center builds on Mayo’s history of proven results
translated into patient-centered care. Well aware
of the challenges patients face in getting the care
they need, the Kerns, no strangers to setbacks, see
a path forward.
“This can be a strong renewal effort” for
health care in America, Robert says, believing
the center will deliver on its promise of “more
effective and efficient health care, bringing the
dream of health care for all to reality.”
For the Kerns, family and faith may have
bred generosity, but for patients, their optimism
breeds hope.
Mayo Clinic’s Next Chapter in Innovation
Perhaps it is no coincidence that Robert
Kern’s first visit to Mayo Clinic in 1930
was just two years after the clinic’s
Plummer Building opened. Aside from
designing the building that bears his
name, Dr. Henry Plummer was Mayo
Clinic’s resident engineer, imagining
solutions like the pneumatic tube
system and unified medical record
that modernized Mayo’s model of
integrated patient care.
The Mayo Clinic Kern Center for the
Science of Health Care Delivery opens
38 Mayo Clinic Magazine
a new chapter in this legacy, according to
Veronique L. Roger, M.D., a cardiologist and
epidemiologist who serves as the center’s
medical director and is the Elizabeth C.
Lane, Ph.D., and M. Nadine Zimmerman,
Ph.D., Professor of Internal Medicine.
“The center does not seek to cure any
one disease,” she explains. “Instead,
we focus on improving the delivery of
care across all paths that bring people to
health care, across all diseases, with the
ultimate goal of improving quality, safety
and value for patients.
“In this way, the center marks the
next milestone in Mayo Clinic’s enduring
mission to make sure the needs of the
patient come first.”
Engineering is in the Kern and Mayo
Clinic DNA, Dr. Roger says, making the
union a perfect match. “It takes a special
couple to not only understand the gravity
of this mission, but also be our advocates.
And the Kerns have been our champions
since day one.”
Uniting Forces
The Partnership Is Greater Than the Individual Components
In the company of Bruce and Diane Halle, their connection is palpable.
Each had loved before and experienced loss — Bruce lost his high
school sweetheart to cancer after 38 years of marriage; Diane lost her
husband to pancreatic cancer. Each describes their loss as ripping out
half their soul. But each also sees how fate and faith stepped in to repair
the damage when their priest introduced them.
“Half of us was dead, and half of us alive,” Diane
says. “And when we came together, we became
whole again. We became a whole team again
because the loss of our spouses was so traumatic
that it took us fi nding somebody else of like
mind to make ourselves whole again.”
Bruce’s tale is the classic American up-by-thebootstraps success story — Midwestern young
man gets married, goes off to war (Korea), comes
home, and gets an education. He tries this idea
and that business but fails the fi rst few times. But
he learns from each experience. Then he fi nds
the right idea, the right business, and opens his
fi rst tire store in 1960.
At the store he’s a jack-of-all-trades —
changing tires, keeping books, painting signs
and cleaning bathrooms. The hard work pays
off, and by the time he and Diane get married,
he owns 272 stores. The couple quickly realize
Diane and Bruce Halle
Volume 28, Issue 1 2014
39
YOU A R E ... THE PARTNER
“Together, we are a collective strength
that not only improves health care
for the individual patient, but also
for the community and world.”
— Bruce Halle
the power of their partnership as Diane, who
had never stepped foot in a tire store, sits in on
meetings and learns the tire business. She inspires
Bruce to work harder and achieve higher goals.
Today, Discount Tire is the world’s largest
independent tire dealership in the industry
with more than 800 stores, 10,000 employees,
and sales exceeding $3 billion.
Focusing Their Power
Beyond business, they’ve also steered the
power of their partnership toward helping
others. When they met, Diane referred to
Bruce as a “shotgun giver.”
“I was giving to this and that and everything
around the place but had no rhyme or reason,”
Bruce admits. “It was just somebody made a
request, and I thought it was a good cause,
and I would help them.”
Diane focused Bruce’s philanthropic nature,
and in 2002 they established the Diane & Bruce
Halle Foundation to make larger gifts that have
deeper impact. In 2004, Diane focused Discount
Tire’s philanthropy by establishing the Driven
to Care Program, which enables the spouses
of store managers to make high-impact gifts
in their regions. (Spouses in Dallas recently
gave $100,000 to provide education and human
services to high-need, at-risk students.)
40 Mayo Clinic Magazine
Driven to Care inspired a similar program
among executive spouses, then another among
administrative assistants.
Bruce and Diane believe their recent gift
supporting the Mayo Medical School – Arizona
Campus and its collaboration with Arizona
State University (ASU) will have a similar
amplifying effect. They say that just as their
partnership produced results beyond anything
they could have achieved on their own, the
Mayo-ASU collaboration will result in a
greater education.
Through this collaboration, the Halles
support a medical education that incorporates
the science of health care delivery and offers
the opportunity for a master’s degree. The
advanced curriculum and master’s give doctors
a scientific understanding of the health care
system and the tools to improve it.
“Our country gains strength when forces
join,” Bruce says. “With Mayo Clinic and
ASU, we will have a new corps of physicians
trained in medical excellence and health care
delivery innovation focused on the needs
of the patient. Together, we are a collective
strength that not only improves health care
for the individual patient but also for the
community and world.”
Like Father and Mother
Two Daughters Follow in Their Parents’ Footsteps
Barbara Carlson Gage wraps her arm around her sister Marilyn Carlson
Nelson as they sit on a pristine white couch watching the hubbub around
them. The two share a smile, which turns into a chuckle, then an outright
laugh — a sisterhood moment shared by only the two of them.
The siblings are situated just off the skyway
of the Radisson Blu Mall of America hotel, the
swanky new Carlson property that’s turning
heads with its imaginative spaces. The hotel’s
brand renaissance has the sisters’ style stamped
all over it. Today, it’s bustling with photo and
video shoots of the sisters and a Radisson-chain
conference that’s drawn company leaders from
far and wide.
Barbara and Marilyn were brought up by two
of the most successful hoteliers ever — Curt and
Arleen Carlson, a couple who brought success
to everything they touched. They founded Gold
Bond Stamp Company, a customer-loyalty
company, with a $55 loan during the Great
Depression. In 1960, they bought a tenth of a
hotel and built it into the Radisson chain. In
1975 they bought a small group of restaurants
that’s now TGI Fridays.
The Carlsons built their business with trust
and tireless work — what Curt called his “restless
gene.” He passed that gene onto his daughters. Of
course the two are a mix of their parents, but they
can clearly see who takes after whom — Marilyn
inherited her father’s brown hair and zeal for
Barbara Carlson Gage and Marilyn Carlson Nelson
business while Barbara inherited her mother’s
blond locks and caring touch.
“In many ways Barbara modeled more
after my mom who was a fantastic nurturer,”
Marilyn says. “I sat at my father’s knee from
the time I was tiny and listened as he posed
business questions to me. Neither my mom
nor my sister was interested in that, but he
held my rapt attention.”
Volume 28, Issue 1 2014
41
YOU A R E ... THE PARTNER
Marilyn Carlson Nelson
succeeded her father as CEO
of Carlson companies.
As they grew older, Marilyn eventually
succeeded her father as CEO of Carlson,
continuing to grow the business into an
international corporation. Barbara succeeded
her father as president of the Carlson Family
Foundation, focusing it on youth issues and
education.
Both inherited their parents’ drive to think
beyond themselves and the ability to achieve
what they set their minds to.
“My father, unlike many entrepreneurs
today, spoke about building something to last.
His dream was to have a multigenerational
organization. He wanted the family to keep the
company going and the company to keep the
family together,” Marilyn says.
Carry a Goal in Your Pocket
Curt Carlson had a habit of scribbling down
goals and hanging on to the paper until they
were realized.
“He always taught us how important it was
to have a goal. He always carried a goal in
42 Mayo Clinic Magazine
his pocket,” Barbara says. “He taught us how
important it was to set goals and to evaluate
those goals by your actions.”
“I think that I learned from my father how
important it is to be optimistic and enthusiastic
and to work hard. Everybody has to work hard
— that isn’t just part of being a leader. A work
ethic has been instilled in us, and we’d like to
pass that on to the next generation.”
Their parents also instilled the company
credo that the sisters still recite. It’s posted on
both their company and foundation websites:
“Whatever you do, do with integrity. Wherever
you go, go as a leader. Whomever you serve,
serve with caring. Whenever you dream, dream
with your all. And never, ever give up.”
Marilyn, who served as chair of Mayo
Clinic’s Board of Trustees for four years before
stepping down in February, says the credo
easily could be Mayo’s. “I think that credo is
really close to Mayo Clinic’s mission and their
values of caring and of innovation and of being
patient-centered.”
Barbara Carlson Gage succeeded
her father as president of the
Carlson Family Foundation.
Generations Past, Generations to Come
Four generations of the Carlson family have
entrusted their care to Mayo Clinic. And
because their family’s philosophy and Mayo
Clinic’s approach to care are so closely aligned,
the Carlson Family Foundation recently
gave a leadership-level gift to the Center for
Individualized Medicine. The gift will help
Mayo tailor care to each individual’s unique
genetic makeup.
“With this gift, we’re going to see how
individualized medicine affects so many
patients and people,” Barbara says.
Marilyn’s husband, Glen Nelson, M.D.,
is a former vice chairman of the medical
device company Medtronic. He says the gift,
because it supports the Mayo Clinic Center for
Individualized Medicine, will make the type of
fi rsthand impacts the family foundations of the
Nelsons and Carlsons want to achieve.
“Medicine in the future will incorporate the
use of an individual’s genetic information in
designing both lifestyle recommendations and
medical interventions,” he says. “We’ll have
the ability to actively manipulate an individual’s
genetic profi le and replace or modify genes or
even modify gene expressions.
“Mayo Clinic has both the tools and the
environment in which that will happen faster
and more precisely. Therefore, it will really
contribute to the adoption of individualized
medicine and provide leadership for the rest
of the medical community, which is sometimes
slow to adopt meaningful new ways of taking
care of patients.”
‘My Dream Is…’
To recognize the families’ generosity, Mayo
Clinic is naming the directorship of the Center
for Individualized Medicine, currently held by
Gianrico Farrugia, M.D., in their honor.
“When I speak to Mrs. Carlson Gage and
Mrs. Carlson Nelson, I’m inspired by their
vision, understanding and zeal to make sure
as many people as possible benefit from what
Mayo Clinic can offer. I’m humbled to be linked
Volume 28, Issue 1 2014
43
YOU A R E ... THE PARTNER
“Medicine in the future will incorporate the use of an
individual’s genetic information in designing both
lifestyle recommendations and medical interventions.”
—Glen Nelson, M.D.
to these two amazing families,” Dr. Farrugia
says. “With our continuing partnership, Mayo
Clinic will continue accelerating its ability to
incorporate the latest in genomics research into
care for patients and their families through the
Center for Individualized Medicine.”
Marilyn and Barbara aren’t focused on the
recognition. Marilyn says she and Dr. Farrugia
share the same goal — to help as many people
as possible.
“My dream is that within 10 years every baby
will have its genome sequenced and that will
be a blueprint for how they move through life
and treatment,” Marilyn says. “What I love is
that Mayo has on the one hand the caring and
on the other hand the rigor of science. Mayo
engages the patient and the physician with
‘What would you like to know? We can make
that available.’ Mayo Clinic doesn’t decide for
people. It decides with patients how they would
like to be treated.”
That approach resonates with both sisters,
who have witnessed Mayo’s unwavering
commitment to the needs of the patient
throughout generations of their family’s care.
44 Mayo Clinic Magazine
“We’re kind of bionic people thanks to
Mayo,” Marilyn says. “Mayo is our partner
for healthy living. I don’t know what we’d
do without Mayo in our lives.”
Two of a Kind
Back at the Radisson Blu, as photographers,
videographers, interviewers and business colleagues vie for their attention, each sister reflects
on how important the other is. It would have
been nearly impossible to achieve their dreams
— and their parents’ — without one another.
“I’ve just always felt grateful that we’re
sisters. We are so similar because there’s only
the two of us and we both value family so
greatly,” Barbara says. “We’re so blessed to be
involved in so many projects — together.”
Among the din of the hotel, with schedules
jam-packed, the two move seamlessly together
— one minute Marilyn speaks to a journalist
while Barbara has her photo taken, the next
Barbara is being interviewed while Marilyn sits
for a video. Each says she doesn’t know what
she’d do without the other. And that’s just the
way they like it.
Ready to Lead
Bringing Vision, Experience and Passion
Take a moment to count all of the times you’ve used a cellphone
or browsed the Internet over the past week, or maybe even the past
day — it’s likely a challenge to tally them all. Now consider overnight
package delivery. Quickly shipping items where we need them to go
is another convenience of modern life that we simply take for granted.
Playing a pivotal role in any of these
innovations would mark a highly successful
career, and that makes James L. Barksdale’s
achievements even more extraordinary: He
was deeply involved in all three.
When FedEx Corporation created the
business of overnight mail delivery, he
oversaw the development of the fi rst
computer system capable of tracking
millions of packages worldwide.
Years before everyone had cellphones,
he was the president of McCaw Cellular
Communications, Inc., the company that
became AT&T Wireless, where he was CEO.
And as the general public fi rst learned to
use the Internet, he oversaw the meteoric
rise of Web-browsing pioneer Netscape.
Fortune Magazine has noted his “genius
at motivating people,” and PC Magazine
recognized him as “Person of the Year.”
Donna and James L. Barksdale
Volume 28, Issue 1 2014
45
YOU A R E ... THE PARTNER
When he was president and CEO of Netscape,
the company received the “Entrepreneurial
Company of the Year” award from both the
Stanford University and Harvard University
alumni associations.
Now Mr. Barksdale, whom his friends call
Jim, is stepping forward in a major leadership
role as chair of The Campaign for Mayo Clinic,
an effort to raise $3 billion by the end of 2017
to fund Mayo’s strategic priorities in practice,
research and education.
“I think now is the time to take Mayo’s work
even further, and that’s why I’m excited about
the mission that we’re on,” he says.
‘Faith in Mayo’
Jim has a long-standing connection to Mayo
Clinic and is grateful for the care that friends
and loved ones have received dating back to
the 1970s. From 2001 to 2014, he served as a
member of the Board of Trustees. He chaired
the board from 2006 to 2010.
“I have family members who went there
in a couple of cases when they were in pretty
desperate shape and nobody else could help
them, but Mayo did,” Jim says.
Jim’s wife, Donna, herself a successful
businesswoman and civic leader, also has a
connection to Mayo Clinic that spans generations.
“My mother has been a Mayo Clinic patient,
I have been a patient, and my daughter was
46 Mayo Clinic Magazine
a patient at a very critical time in her life. My
granddaughter is also a Mayo patient,” Donna
says. “So that gives you an indication of what
we feel about our trust and faith in Mayo.”
The Barksdales’ commitment to Mayo
inspired them to make one of the most
significant gifts during the previous Campaign
for Mayo Clinic, an effort that exceeded its goal
by raising $1.35 billion between 2005 and 2009.
That gift in 2007 played a major role in
launching the Center for Individualized
Medicine, enabling a clinic that brings genomic
discoveries directly to patient care and launching
clinical trials aimed at finding new treatments for
breast cancer, prostate cancer and heart disease.
“A large part of it can be traced back
to the real jumpstart we got from that
transformational support from the Barksdales,”
says Eric Wieben, Ph.D., director of Mayo
Clinic’s Medical Genome Facility. “That gift, at
that time, let us scale up and gain the expertise
we needed to become really competitive.”
‘The Science Is There’
Bringing deep experience in driving innovation,
Jim sees tremendous opportunity in the new
campaign and its ability to advance discoveries
that promise to revolutionize health care.
“I think it’s very important at this time to
make it happen because the science is there if
we’ll just push it,” he says. “I think if we can get
“I think now is the time to take Mayo’s work even further,
and that’s why I’m excited about the mission that we’re on.”
— Jim Barksdale
the investments, the dollars to come in, we can
move the science much farther, much faster.”
Just as he helped create entire industries
as a business leader, Jim’s investment in
individualized medicine came at a time
when Mayo Clinic was starting to develop
its capabilities in a rapidly developing field
of medicine. When talking about the impact
individualized medicine is already making, he
stresses the results Mayo is seeing with patients.
“We can see that they’re doing not just research,
but they’re actually saving individual people’s
lives,” he says. “It’s been one of the most exciting
things in my life as we’ve gotten involved with
individualized medicine at Mayo Clinic.”
Donna agrees that individualized medicine
will have an impact on patients for years to come.
“I think it is completely the future of
medicine,” she says.
Commitment and Contribution
As a philanthropist, Jim has led efforts
ranging from early childhood literacy
to honors education at the University of
Mississippi. Also in Mississippi, he served
as chair of the Governor’s Commission on
Recovery, Rebuilding and Renewal following
Hurricane Katrina.
“Jim has made tremendous contributions
to society and to making people’s lives better,”
says Mayo Clinic President and CEO John H.
Noseworthy, M.D. “We are very fortunate at
Mayo Clinic to have him in a leadership role.”
Jim looks at his time on the Board of Trustees,
as well as serving on various committees to
support Mayo Clinic, as valuable experience
that will help as chair of The Campaign for
Mayo Clinic. One person who knows him well
from her service on the Board of Trustees is
Marilyn Carlson Nelson, a former board chair.
“Jim is brilliant,” she says. “He’s a very
deep person with a deep commitment to
Mayo Clinic, and he’s the perfect leader for
our campaign because he walks the talk. He
believes in what we’re doing, and he believes
in Mayo’s future.”
As Jim steps forward as campaign chair,
Marilyn also points to his credibility as a leader in
advancing philanthropy to support Mayo Clinic.
“He’s given of himself — of his time, his talent
and his treasure — and he can therefore inspire
and motivate others to do it, as well,” she says.
Dr. Noseworthy, who counts Jim as a trusted
mentor, agrees that Jim’s leadership will help
the campaign succeed.
“I’ve worked with him, and it’s wonderful,”
Dr. Noseworthy says. “It’s fun, it’s quick, but
you better be focused. Working together with
him in this campaign, I know that we’ll keep
Mayo strong for our patients.”
Volume 28, Issue 1 2014
47
YOU A R E ... THE PARTNER
In It for the Long Run
Inspired by His Mother’s Voice to Create a Legacy of Hope
After a 25-year hiatus from running marathons, Herschel Herndon
made a New Year’s resolution in 2011 to regain the fitness that allowed
him to compete in earlier races.
It wasn’t easy. The fi rst time he laced up his
shoes he could barely run a mile.
Herschel kept running, however, and before
long he had that old feeling back, just like when
he was in his 20s. His initial struggles were
replaced by a craving for his workouts which
led to running the Portland Marathon in
October 2011.
“That was pretty exciting, and I thought,
‘I could come back,’” recalls Herschel, who is
56. He made plans to run the Berlin Marathon
the following year. When it came time to train
for Berlin, however, a foot injury threatened
the endeavor. Following the advice of his Mayo
Clinic physician, Herschel turned to the Mayo
Clinic Sports Medicine Center for help.
“They conducted an in-depth analysis of my
running style, my stride, my gait, and made
recommendations that could help me stay
healthy and in shape,” Herschel says.
Herschel followed the prescribed regimen
of stretching and exercises and the results
were dramatic — his training stayed on track
and he completed the marathon in Berlin.
48 Mayo Clinic Magazine
“It was a remarkable feeling of accomplishment,” he says, adding that running
through the historic Brandenburg Gate as part
of the marathon is a moment he’ll never forget.
The expert care he received from the Mayo
Clinic Sports Medicine Center and the care his
family members have also received, have fueled
and inspired Herschel’s support for Mayo Clinic.
He’s also inspired by Mayo’s innovative approaches
to research and personalized patient care.
This inspiration has led to Herschel’s personal
estate commitment to Mayo Clinic. Part of the
funds are designated to support breast cancer
research as a result of family members who
have breast cancer.
“Breast cancer is prevalent in my family and
many others, and I’m learning about the care that
is needed not only here in the U.S. but even around
Herschel has served as vice president of
talent relations and chief diversity officer at
Best Buy Co., Inc., and vice president, local
market development. Prior to Best Buy, he
was the director of global communications
and diversity at The Stanley Works in
Connecticut. Most recently, he founded
Minneapolis-based HRH Global Connections,
LLC, where he serves as president.
“This was her legacy to us, her
children, just as Mayo Clinic
will be a legacy to my children.”
— Herschel Herndon
the world,” Herschel says. “So it’s something that
has been very near and dear to my heart, to try to
help people who have been afflicted with breast
cancer and have the best and the leading edge
of research and treatment available.”
Herschel also views his commitment to Mayo
Clinic as a way he can leave a lasting legacy
for future generations, just as his mother did
through the example she set for others.
In the early 1980s, shortly after Herschel
graduated from college, his mother, Kathryn,
visited him while he was living in Kansas City.
They stayed up late into the night talking about
her life, inspiring Herschel to pull out a tape
recorder to preserve the life stories and lessons
his mother shared with him that night.
“My mother was an incredible
woman,” Herschel says. “She earned
advanced degrees in the 1940s and 50s,
at a time when that was difficult for
African American women to do so, then
dedicated her life to teaching others.”
Time passed, and in 1996 Kathryn
suffered a massive stroke. She was
no longer able to speak, but Herschel
had the tape. He has played it again,
both with her present and for friends and family
after her passing. In both cases, he said, it was a
powerful experience for everyone involved.
By supporting Mayo Clinic, Herschel
envisions what he has done, now and in the
future, as a legacy to his children.
“My mother left us her voice in an audio tape
about her life and her vision for us,” he says.
“This was her legacy to us, her children, just as
Mayo Clinic will be a legacy to my children.”
As Mayo Clinic celebrates its 150th Anniversary
this year, Herschel is enthusiastic about doing
what he can to help ensure that the vision of
Mayo Clinic will live on for another 150 years.
“My view is that Mayo Clinic is for everyone.”
Volume 28, Issue 1 2014
49
STRENGTH
IN NUMBERS
People striving to make a
difference in the lives of others
have realized there’s strength in
numbers. By engaging friends,
colleagues and peers to join
their cause, these people are
raising much more money than
they could donate on their own.
And they’re having fun doing it.
50 Mayo Clinic Magazine
If you want to raise money to
support Mayo Clinic, please
contact Jennifer Brink at
507-284-8618 before you start
planning. We would be happy
to share lessons others have
learned and tools to make
your efforts as successful
as possible.
Volume 26, Issue 2 2013
50
Braving the Ice and Cold
It’s the fi rst day of February in Minnesota.
Dozens of runners gather at the starting line
of the Frozen Goose 10k fun run, donning the
obligatory stocking cap or headband to cover
the ears. Their frozen breath swells among
the crowd.
It’s cold, but these runners have seen worse.
(The low the day before was 8 below zero, the
day after was 9 below.) Most wear their usual
running gear topped with a light jacket or
sweatshirt. The starting gun goes off at 1 p.m.,
sending the runners on a ginger jog along a
stretch of snow- and ice-covered asphalt.
They’re braving the cold and ice to raise
money for the Rochester, Minn., Optimist
Club and its fight against childhood cancer.
The fi rst return in about 38 minutes, the
last in over an hour.
“The Frozen Goose event fits perfectly with
our philosophy,” says Bill Reilly, treasurer
and former president of the club, which also
supports community youth activities such as
spelling bees, fi rearm safety and local science
fairs. Its motto is “A Friend of Youth.”
The 35-member club started the fun run
nearly 40 years ago, and for the last 12 years
focused the event on raising money — donating
25 percent to Brighter Tomorrows, which helps
families impacted by childhood cancers, and
75 percent to childhood cancer research at
Mayo Clinic. To date, the club has raised
nearly $60,000 for Mayo’s work.
Volume 28, Issue 1 2014
51
STR E NG TH I N N UM B ER S
We Do It for Others
Dave Hittner has lots of photos of his wife,
Joan, on vacation — standing next to a giant
cypress in Australia, sitting in a Victorian
courtyard in New Zealand, in the tropics of
Hawaii. Not in a single one can you tell she’s
fighting the slow-growing cancer carcinoid.
But then there are the later photos, the ones
in 2012. She still looks healthy, but her face is
thinner, and, as Dave points out, she’s always
leaning on a table, a chair, a friend.
“From the time she was
diagnosed locally to the time
she passed away was about nine
years — that’s a long time as far
as cancers go,” Dave says. “But it
didn’t seem that way to us.”
Dave and Joan came to Mayo
Clinic seven years into her fight
when it was clear her local doctors
had done all they could. Mayo
doctors slowed the cancer’s
progress, but it had spread too far.
As a thank-you for Joan’s care, the
couple made a donation of $25. And that
gave them an idea.
“Nowadays $25 doesn’t go a long way, but
we started talking that if we could get a bunch
of people to give $25, it could really make a
difference,” Dave says.
That year they began Golden Dream, a
nonprofit dedicated to raising money for cancer
research at Mayo Clinic. In 2012 they held
their fi rst banquet at the Elks Lodge in their
hometown and raised $8,000. Unfortunately,
Joan didn’t live to see the second banquet or
how it raised $20,000 that year.
Dave says he and Joan knew their work would
never benefit her condition. “As I said at the last
dinner, ‘We do not do this for Joan. We do not
do this for the 1,500 people that die every day
of cancer. We do it for the 4,500 people
diagnosed every day.’”
The third annual Golden Dream Banquet
will be Nov. 3 at the Elks Lodge in Winona.
Please call Dave at 507-429-9800 for more
information.
Linking a Legacy
It’s been about a decade since he passed away,
yet every second Saturday in August the Denny
Bode Memorial golf tournament still draws 70
people — some from five states away.
“He was such a well-known person in the
community,” says Denny’s daughter, Carrie
Flanagan. “He just knew everybody.”
Carrie and her family began the tournament
nine years ago as a fitting legacy for a man
who loved to golf and socialize. They chose
North Links Golf Course, which Denny helped
establish when he was a councilmember in
North Mankato, Minn.
“During the tournament we have picture
boards of Dad, family and friends, and there
52 Mayo Clinic Magazine
are always stories going around the clubhouse
about him,” Carrie says. “That’s what I think I
like the most — hearing the stories.”
The tournament has grown in recent years as
word has spread that proceeds go to multiple
myeloma research at Mayo Clinic. (Denny
died from the disease a day before his fi rst
appointment at Mayo.) It wasn’t a secret before,
but now multiple myeloma groups from around
the state of Minnesota participate.
Through the tournament, which includes auctions, door prizes and sponsored holes, Carrie and
her family have raised $65,000 to fight the disease.
For more information, visit
www.dennybodememorial.com.
An Iron Man for Mom and Sister
For months he couldn’t wrap his head around
it. When he thought about it, all he found was
fogginess and pain.
A few years earlier, Ken Fredrickson’s mother
committed suicide. But he had seen her battle
depression and bipolar disorder his whole life,
had seen her pain and struggle, so he felt like
he understood it. But his younger sister’s more
recent suicide left him angry, confused and
feeling guilty.
“When I was dealing with my sister’s death, I
knew I needed something,” he says. “I was going
to need something to help me find balance.”
At 43, Ken focused his energy on training
three hours a day for an IRONMAN Triathlon
— a 2.4-mile swim and 112-mile bike ride
followed by a full marathon, which is 26.2
miles. (He’d never even run a marathon.) To add
even more meaning to the effort, Ken worked
with the IRONMAN Foundation, which
enables racers to support causes close to them.
Ken set a goal to raise $25,000 for Mayo Clinic’s
research in depression and mood disorders.
“Mayo’s cutting-edge research is what sets
them apart,” he says. “It’s research that has the
potential for immediate results.”
To increase his impact, Ken, a sommelier
based in Chicago, went beyond just soliciting
support through emails. He produced a
video, sold his VIP tickets to the Lollapalooza
music festival and engaged friends one-onone through potluck dinners, which had an
unexpected consequence.
“We asked people for a $25 donation, but
most gave $50 or $100,” Ken says. “It’s easy for
friends and colleagues to give the minimum if
they’re sitting at their desks, but you really put
a different spin on it when you involve a large
group of people driving for a goal. People want
to be part of something like that — and to give
as much as they can.”
Through his creative approach, Ken doubled
his goal and raised $50,000 — more than
anyone else who competed in an IRONMAN
last year.
“I’ll never make sense out of what happened
to my little sister,” he says. “It was defi nitely a
shock. I didn’t see it coming. But it’s comforting
to know now I can help someone else.”
Volume 28, Issue 1 2014
53
STR E NG TH I N N UM B ER S
Miles for Melanoma
As soon as his oncologist told him he had a
better-than-even chance of surviving, Milan
Kesic knew he had to give something back.
He was at Mayo Clinic, where doctors had
just removed a melanoma tumor the size of a
cigar box. A few days before, his oncologist,
Svetomir Markovic, M.D., Ph.D., had told him
there was a 60 percent chance the tumor had
spread. If it had, the 39-year-old father of two
probably wouldn’t live to his next birthday. But
it hadn’t spread, and Milan’s priorities quickly
changed. Material things — fancy cars, nice
homes and luxury watches — were no longer
important. Instead, he placed greater value in
family and in helping others.
Soon after doctors removed his tumor,
Milan set a goal to raise $25,000 to support the
melanoma research of Dr. Markovic, who is
54 Mayo Clinic Magazine
the Charles F. Mathy Professor of Melanoma
Research. He launched a 5K race, Miles for
Melanoma, and set up an online fundraising
account and Facebook page to support it. He
made a video about his experience and that of
his brother, who was diagnosed with the same
disease one week after Milan. He even took
donations to shave his cherished beard.
“Helping people and giving back is my
number one priority,” Milan says. “I’m so
grateful to Dr. Markovic and his team for
helping me stay alive that I decided I was going
to try and help other people do the same thing.
I figured God spared me for a reason and I
needed to accomplish more while here.”
Milan nearly tripled his goal by raising
about $65,000.
mayoclinic.org/give
You have helped Mayo Clinic lead the transformation of health care. You helped us accelerate discoveries
and bring life changing treatments into practice. As we launch the campaign for Mayo Clinic, we are grateful
for your support. You are the solution.
GRATEFUL
PATIENTS
Mayo Clinic benefactors come
from all walks of life, from
retired nurses who worked
here and saw firsthand the
impact of our approach, to
pleased patients who run
multinational corporations.
56 Mayo Clinic Magazine
Whatever their background,
they all have one thing in
common — the desire to
help others by advancing
medicine. Our benefactors are
the lifeblood of Mayo Clinic,
and our model of care is only
possible because of them.
EASING MY FEARS
Anna Tedone
Retired Legal Assistant
Two days before her 21st birthday, Anna Tedone saw
her 17-year-old brother, James, die from Duchenne
muscular dystrophy. Her brother Guido died from
the disease at 16. A third brother, Achille, at 15.
The genetic disease, which only affects males
but is passed on through females, has worried
her ever since — Are my daughters carrying
the gene? Are my nephew’s aches and pains
typical or the beginning of the disease? Are my
grandchildren safe?
Mayo Clinic is helping ease Anna’s fears. She
came to Mayo for the first time for a 75th-birthday
“tune up.” Her experience inspired her to support
Mayo Clinic’s genetic muscular dystrophy research.
“I was so blown away with the efficiency and
precision,” she says. “The everyday operation
of Mayo runs like clockwork, which is evident,
having experienced it firsthand. Since then, I’ve
done a lot of reading and found their research
quite advanced.”
Anna signed up to have a contribution
deducted from her checking account every month.
“I have reiterated time and again to my two
daughters in Hudson, Wis., how fortunate they
are to reside within driving distance of Mayo,”
she says. “People travel from all corners of the
globe to seek medical assistance at Mayo. Why
mess around with anyone else?”
Anna’s brother James,
in sweater, died from
Duchenne muscular
dystrophy when he
was 17 years old.
Volume 28, Issue 1 2014
57
GRATE F UL PAT I EN T S
HELPING ME
FIGHT CANCER
James Stock
Technical Project Manager
James Stock turned to Mayo Clinic when he was
diagnosed with multiple myeloma. He quickly
signed up for a clinical trial, starting treatment on
his 50th birthday. Within four months he was in
complete remission and wanted to help others as
he had been helped.
“With my giving I’ve always wanted to know
that it was doing some good. I’ve had remarkable
experiences working with people here, and they’re
just the kindest people. You consider them friends. I
just trust in everything that this place does. I know
58 Mayo Clinic Magazine
the money is going to be used wisely.
“For Christmas this year, my wife and I didn’t
give each other gifts. Instead we gave two
contributions — one to Mayo, one to the Multiple
Myeloma Research Foundation that is sponsoring
the study I’m in. You realize that if you keep
putting some money in those envelopes along the
way — two or three times a year — it really does
add up. You see the Gonda Building and we’re not
in that income bracket unfortunately, but anybody
can give and it will be put to good use.”
CHANGED MY
BROTHER’S LIFE
Steven Brown
Geologist, Illinois State Geological Survey
Steve Brown came to Mayo Clinic after becoming
frustrated with his local care and seeing how
Mayo transformed his brother’s life.
“The way you’re treated at Mayo Clinic is just
different than anywhere else. You start with one
appointment and the rest of the week is planned
out. But at the end of the week you have answers,
a path and direction. It’s completely unlike
anything else I’ve ever experienced.
“I see Mayo impacting the quality of life for
people around the world. I realized what I could
do to help other people through Mayo. It’s about
helping other people.”
Steven Brown, left, and
his brother David Brown
Volume 28, Issue 1 2014
59
2014 M AYO CL I N I C B O A R D O F T RU S T EES
EXTERNAL TRUSTEES
Linda G. Alvarado
President and CEO
Alvarado Construction, Inc.
Denver, Colo.
Bradbury H. (Brad) Anderson
Retired CEO and Vice Chairman
Best Buy Co., Inc.
Richfield, Minn.
Thomas J. (Tom) Brokaw
Special Correspondent
NBC Nightly News
New York, N.Y.
Armando Codina
Executive Chairman
Codina Partners, LLC
Coral Gables, Fla.
Samuel A. Di Piazza, Jr.
Chair, Mayo Clinic
Board of Trustees
Former Vice Chairman, ICG
Citigroup
New York, N.Y.
Michael E. Dougherty
Chairman
Dougherty Financial Group LLC
Minneapolis, Minn.
William W. (Bill) George
Professor of Management Practice
Harvard Business School
Cambridge, Mass.
Eric E. Schmidt, Ph.D.
Executive Chairman
Google
Mountain View, Calif.
Pamela O. Johnson, R.N.
Chair, Department of Nursing
Chief Nursing Officer
Mayo Clinic
Randolph Steer, M.D., Ph.D.
Biotechnology Consultant
Desert Health Enterprise
Rancho Mirage, Calif.
Veronique L. Roger, M.D.
Consultant,
Cardiovascular Diseases
Mayo Clinic
Diana L. Taylor
Managing Director
Wolfensohn Fund Management
New York, N.Y.
William C. Rupp, M.D.
Vice President, Mayo Clinic
CEO, Mayo Clinic in Florida
Charles B. (Charlie) Tomm
President and CEO
The Brumos Companies
Jacksonville, Fla.
INTERNAL TRUSTEES
Kedrick D. Adkins, Jr.
Chief Financial Officer
Chair, Department of Finance
Mayo Clinic
Jeffrey W. Bolton
Vice President, Administration
Mayo Clinic
Michael Camilleri, M.D.
Executive Dean for Development
Mayo Clinic
Steven J. Buskirk, M.D.
Consultant, Radiation Oncology
Mayo Clinic in Florida
Cheryl J. Hadaway
Chair
Department of Development
Mayo Clinic
Wyatt W. Decker, M.D.
Vice President, Mayo Clinic
CEO, Mayo Clinic in Arizona
Bobbie S. Gostout, M.D.
Chair, Departament of OB/GYN
Consultant, GYN Oncologist
Mayo Clinic
Roy A. Herberger, Jr., Ph.D.
President Emeritus
Thunderbird School of
Global Management
Phoenix, Ariz.
Eddie L. Greene, M.D.
Consultant, Nephrology
Mayo Clinic
Aulana L. Peters
Retired Partner
Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, LLP
Los Angeles, Calif.
Michael K. Powell
President and CEO
National Cable &
Telecommunications Assn.
Washington, D.C.
ADDITIONAL OFFICIALS
Daniel J. Berry, M.D.
Consultant, Orthopedic Surgery
Mayo Clinic
George C. Halvorson
Retired Chairman and CEO
Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Inc.
Oakland, Calif.
Ronald L. Olson
Partner
Munger, Tolles & Olson, LLP
Los Angeles, Calif.
Mary J. Williamson
Chair,
Department of Practice
Administration
Mayo Clinic
C. M. (Michel) Harper, Jr., M.D.
Executive Dean for Practice
Consultant, Neurology
Mayo Clinic
Lois E. Krahn, M.D.
Consultant, Psychiatry
Mayo Clinic in Arizona
Dawn S. Milliner, M.D
Consultant, Nephrology
Mayo Clinic
John H. Noseworthy, M.D.
President and CEO
Mayo Clinic
Sister June Kaiser
Richard L. Knowlton
Philip R. Lee, M.D.
Whitney MacMillan
Joan D. Manley
J. Willard Marriott Jr.
Ambassador Donard F. McHenry
Newton N. Minow
Patricia E. Mitchell
Honorable Walter F. Mondale
Marilyn Carlson Nelson
Luis G. Nogales
Hugh B. Price
Lee R. Raymond, Ph.D.
Frederick W. Smith
Edson W. Spencer
Donald M. Stewart, D.P.A.
Anne M. Tatlock
Paul A. Volcker
Rawleigh Warner Jr.
Robert C. Winters
Elias A. Zerhouni, M.D.
Mayo Clinic Magazine
Executive Editor:
Brett C. Vermilyea
Contributors: Matthew Dacy,
Erin Flaherty, Colin Fly, Jason
Fortin, Marissa Gentling, Marcia
Mattson, Cheri Moon, Matt Russell
Photography: Joseph M. Kane,
Matthew C. Meyer, Pete J. Pallagi,
Dean Riggott, Gosha Weivoda
Jonathan J. Oviatt, J.D.
Secretary
Chief Legal officer
Chair, Legal Department
Mayo Clinic
Illustration: Marcos L. Bari, Peggy
Chihak, Mark Curry
EMERITUS PUBLIC TRUSTEES
Lilyan H. Affinito
Robert E. Allen
H. Brewster Atwater Jr.
Ambassador Howard H. Baker Jr.
James L. Barksdale
Barbara M. Barrett
Barbara P. Bush
Richard B. Cheney
France A. Córdova, Ph.D.
John H. Dasburg
Senator Thomas A. Daschle
A. Dano Davis
Allan R. DeBoer
George C. Dillon
Frances D. Fergusson, Ph.D.
Bert A. Getz
Louis L. Gonda
Hanna H. Gray, Ph.D.
Robert A. Hanson
W. Thomas Johnson Jr.
Design: Marcos L. Bari, Karen E.
Barrie, Ryan R. Ledebuhr, Peter M.
McConahey, Denise M. Otteson,
Jeffrey A. Satre
Please address comments to:
Brett C. Vermilyea
Mayo Clinic Magazine
Siebens 9200 First Street SW
Rochester, MN 55905
(507) 284-8540
mayomagazine@mayo.edu
www.mayoclinic.org/development
Mayo is a not-for-profit 501(c)(3)
charitable organization, and
contributions are tax-deductible
to the extent allowed by law.
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60 Mayo Clinic Magazine
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