Stony Brook Cancer Center Receives $1.25 Million Gift From the Betty Ajces Trust

The Stony Brook Cancer Center has received a $1.25 million gift from the Betty Ajces Trust designated for the Leon & Betty Ajces Memorial Fund, which will enhance clinical trials and research at the center.

This is the second gift from the Betty Ajces Trust to the Stony Brook Cancer Center. In 2023, the Leon and Betty Ajces Memorial Fund was established to support the Stony Brook University Cancer Center Food Pantry and ovarian cancer research. This latest gift will support the prevention, treatment or cure of cancer through clinical trials and research at the Cancer Center.

“Our scientific medical officer and I are impressed with all of the research being done at the Cancer Center,” said Alan E. Weiner, trustee of the Betty Ajces Trust and longtime family friend of the Ajces family. “We are pleased to support the work being done at the Stony Brook Cancer Center.”

Stony Brook Cancer Center is an integral part of Stony Brook Medicine, which integrates Stony Brook University’s health-related initiatives: education, research and patient care. Within the Medical and Research Translation (MART) building are researchers and clinical investigators who collaborate on discoveries and innovations in cancer treatment and prevention. There are three distinct research programs: Oncogenic Drivers and Mechanisms of Carcinogenesis; Imaging, Biomarker Discovery, and Engineering Sciences; and Lipid Signaling and Metabolism in Cancer, as well as a newly formed Population Science Program. By integrating research with clinical care, treatments can move quickly from the laboratory to the patient, according to Yusuf A. Hannun, MD, director of the Stony Brook Cancer Center.

“We are grateful for the Betty Ajces Trust’s contribution to fuel the momentum of the Cancer Center,” said Hannun. “The support this gift provides will have a significant impact on the study and practice of cancer medicine — both in Suffolk County and around the world.”

The Cancer Center offers advanced treatment and prevention programs with innovative therapies and clinical trials for adults and children. It provides an expanded state-of-the-art space that allows for privacy and any special needs for patients and their families, as well as leading-edge technology and specialized care teams — including nurse navigators.

“This gift from the Betty Ajces Trust will help build our strengths in cancer medicine research,” said Renaissance School of Medicine Knapp Dean Peter Igarashi, MD. “By investing in research and clinical trials, we can accelerate the discovery-to-implementation process and improve the health outcomes of our patients and communities.”

Betty Ajces was born in Queens, New York, in 1929 and had a passion for the arts. She toured the country in the 1940s and early 1950s with an all-girl jazz trio. She continued to play in community orchestras into her eighties and served as the chair of the board of the Rockaway-Five Towns Orchestra. She passed away in 2022. Her husband, Leon, was a Ukrainian-born immigrant and World War II veteran. He defected to the United States in 1948, where he became a successful businessman. He passed away in 1999. 

-Christine McGrath