Siteman Cancer Center Founder Eberlein, Funder, Siteman Share 2019 Citizen of Year Honors
Date Posted: January 5, 2020
Posted In: News, Organizations, People, Regionalism,
From St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Among the dozen or so framed photos of family and momentous occasions earning spots on a shelf in Dr. Timothy Eberlein’s office is one of him and Alvin Siteman. It was taken at an event about six years ago. They have their arms around each other and are smiling broadly.
The photographer had joked that the two needed to get closer for the picture, like the two actually knew each other.
The picture is special, Eberlein says, because of how Siteman responded at the time: “Yeah, why not? He’s my partner.”
It meant a lot, said Eberlein, director of the Siteman Cancer Center named in Siteman’s honor. “Gee, do you really mean that? That’s a promotion!” he recalled saying.
More than 22 years ago, Eberlein moved to St. Louis to become chairman of the surgery department at Washington University Medical Center. A month after arriving, he was tasked with developing a cancer center — combining disciplines across the university and Barnes-Jewish Hospital to work together to improve treatment, research and prevention.
The catalyst came a year later, when Alvin and Ruth Siteman agreed to donate $35 million to the effort. Though the Sitemans are intensely private, they agreed to lend their name to the center. It proved key in giving the center credibility, the promise that it was going to be something big.
In just six months, the medical school was able to raise the additional $75 million needed to build the facility and fund its programs.
In 2001, the Siteman Cancer Center on the medical campus at Kingshighway and Forest Park Boulevard was completed.
Eberlein was the Siteman Cancer Center’s first director and has remained the director ever since.
The center quickly flourished. The same year it opened, Siteman became a federally designated cancer research center. In 2004, the federal National Cancer Institute designated it a Comprehensive Cancer Center, placing Siteman among the most highly ranked cancer institutions in the nation.
The dean of Washington University School of Medicine called Eberlein a visionary with “incredible taste” in the doctors and researchers he recruited.
“We have one of the most highly rated cancer centers in the country, and that is reflected in the fact that Eberlein has been the director since its inception. It’s a measure of his impact,” said Dr. David Perlmutter.
Five years ago, Siteman Cancer Center was among a handful that earned the highest possible “exceptional” rating from the National Cancer Institute — the largest source of research dollars — because of its expertise.
Treating 75,000 patients a year, the center has become among the top five busiest in the country. It receives $177 million in research funding and conducts more than 500 clinical trials each year, giving patients access to developing treatments.
Four satellite Siteman Cancer Centers have opened across the St. Louis region, with a fifth opening this month in the Metro East.
Alvin Siteman never stopped giving throughout the growth, which has led to some of the biggest discoveries in cancer research, and he’s never stopped calling Eberlein his partner.
“You know, Ruth and I are very private people, but almost everywhere I go I see my name,” Siteman recently told Eberlein. “I suppose I have you to thank for that.”
In a rare combination, Siteman and Eberlein have been named the 2019 Citizens of the Year. The honor, usually given to just one person, is sponsored by the Post-Dispatch and selected by a committee of past winners.