Alexion Pharmaceuticals has pledged a $100,000 gift to establish the Wendell F. Rosse, MD, Complement Research Endowment in Hematology. The endowment will provide funds to support research in the Division of Hematology, and will, when possible, support the work of early-career researchers focusing on complement research, as well as diseases for which dysfunction or deficiency of complement may plays a central or causal role.
The gift was initiated by Camille Bedrosian, MD, chief medical officer at Alexion Pharmaceuticals and a former trainee (Hematology/Oncology fellowship ’88) who worked with Dr. Rosse and wanted to establish an endowment to honor his studies of paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria and other complement-mediated disorders.
Wendell F. Rosse, MD, is the Florence McAlister Professor of Medicine Emeritus (Hematology) and the founder of the Duke Comprehensive Sickle Cell Center. He was a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator from 1976-1981, served as chief of the Duke Division of Hematology from 1976-1984, and was co-director of the Division from 1984-1989. Dr. Rosse served as president of the American Society of Hematology in 1987 and was an Associate Editor of the journal Blood.
Dr. Rosse made numerous important contributions to our understanding of complement and complement-related diseases. This gift recognizes those contributions and provides an opportunity to support new investigations into this area of research.
“Dr. Rosse is an exemplary clinician, researcher, and educator, and I am delighted that we are able to recognize his contributions through this gift," said Tom Ortel, MD, PhD, chief of the Division of Hematology.