The C. Willard Robinson Professorship of Hematology-Oncology
In 1948, Philadelphia industrialist Lee I. Robinson established an endowed fund in honor of his son, C. Willard “Bill” Robinson (1920–1947), a former U.S. Air Force Captain who died of cancer at age 27. For more than a half-century, the Robinson Fund served many talented young physicians and teachers engaged in cancer research and care at the Abramson Cancer Center.
In 2004 through the generosity of two generations of the Robinson family, the endowment grew sufficiently to support a professorship, and the C. Willard Robinson Professorship of Hematology-Oncology was established.
Contributors to the chair include Eunice Robinson Leopold (1916–2001), Lee’s daughter, and her husband, Irving Leopold, MD (1916–1993), both alumni of the University. Dr. Leopold, a world-famous ophthalmologist, graduated from the Perelman School of Medicine and practiced at Penn among other medical centers. He counted Presidents Richard Nixon and Lyndon Baines Johnson among his patients.
The Leopolds’ daughter, Ellen Robinson Leopold, initiated the conversion of the fund into a professorship. Among her many philanthropic commitments, she has carried on the family’s tradition of support for Penn’s cancer programs into a new century.
Current Chairholder
Alison Loren, MD, MSCE
Alison Loren is Chief of Hematology/Oncology and Professor of Medicine at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. She is also the Director of Blood & Marrow Transplant in the Cell Therapy & Transplant Program at the Abramson Cancer Center.
Dr. Loren specializes in hematologic malignancies and hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT). Her clinical and research interests focus on outcomes in HCT, fertility preservation and pregnancy, and long-term survivorship. She has formal training in clinical epidemiology, biostatistics, and clinical trial design and implementation, having earned a Master’s degree during her clinical fellowship in hematology/oncology.
Dr. Loren has extensive experience in collaborative clinical research. She has served as At-Large Member of the Center for International Blood & Marrow Transplant Registry’s (CIBMTR) Advisory Board, Chair of the Fertility Working Group of the Late Effects Committee for the CIBMTR, Program Committee Member of the inaugural ASCO/ACP/AAFP Cancer Survivorship Symposium, and co-Chair of the CIBMTR’s Regimen-Related Toxicity Working Committee. She was the Co-Chair of the American Society of Hematology (ASH) Education Program for the 2021 annual meeting and serves as ASH Councilor (2019-2023). She has co-chaired ASCO’s Fertility Preservation Guideline committee and serves as Chair of the NCCN’s Hematopoietic Cell Transplant Guideline committee. In addition, she is nationally recognized for leadership in education and faculty development, having served as Hematology/Oncology Fellowship Program Director at the University of Pennsylvania from 2007-2016, Vice Chair for Faculty Development in the Department of Medicine at Penn, and currently co-chairs ASH’s Mentorship working group.
Dr. Loren earned her AB from Harvard University (Biology), her MD from Washington University, and her MSCE from the University of Pennsylvania (Clinical Epidemiology).
Previous Chairholders
- Alan M. Gewirtz, MD 2004–2010
- Lynn M. Schuchter, MD 2010-2022