In his annual State of BioMed address last fall, Mukesh K. Jain, MD, senior vice president for health affairs and dean of medicine and biological sciences, reflected on Brown’s progress in health and science while envisioning the transformative direction of research at Brown. For Jonathan Leibner ’92, P’24, P’27, and Mimi Foldes ’95, P’24, P’27, Jain’s vision for advancing research, biomedical education, and clinical care at Brown prompted them to reflect on the University’s influence on their own family. Motivated by this, they considered how they might contribute to the scientific advancements happening at Brown, specifically in the area of cancer research.
“So many of our family members were taken from us too soon due to cancer, including all four of our grandmothers, my father and grandfathers,” Mimi says. When they then lost Jonathan’s father this past year to kidney cancer, the family decided to establish the LeibnerFoldes Family Cancer Research Fund in honor of Richard A. Leibner.
“After meeting with Dean Jain, we believe that Brown is poised to make meaningful breakthroughs in creating unique and powerful treatments for cancer,” Jonathan says. “We hope that this research fund helps Brown excel in scientific discoveries that will directly help patients in Rhode Island and around the world.
We are also so glad to be able to honor my father, who made philanthropy such an important part of his life.”
The family’s Cancer Research Fund is also a tribute to Mimi and Jonathan’s unique experiences at Brown. As alumni and parents, they reflect on the opportunities Brown provides students to dive deeply into their academic passions and cultivate relationships with friends from across the world that will last a lifetime.
Jonathan, the former CEO and co-owner of N.S. Bienstock Inc., an agency representing broadcast news talent that was sold to United Talent Agency in 2014, attended Stanford Law School and is the founder and principal of Fast Times Management LLC, a media management and consulting firm. Mimi practiced corporate law at DLA Piper, specializing in mergers and acquisitions and corporate finance transactions after attending Cardozo School of Law, and was a PTA chair and board member of an arts nonprofit. She serves as vice-chair of the Brown Annual Fund Leadership Council and co-chair of both the Class of 1995 30th Reunion Class Gift Committee and the Fundraising Committee for the 130 Years of Jewish Life at Brown celebration scheduled for this fall.
“Brown is such an important part of our entire family, so supporting the University’s revitalized commitment to high-impact research and excellent medical treatment was an easy decision,” Mimi and Jonathan say. “We have every confidence that Dean Jain and his team can maximize the resources we are contributing, combine them with hard work and dedication of Brown faculty members and students, and take great strides in the prevention and treatment of cancer. We are both proud and humbled to be a small part of it.”
