The Abramson Family Professorship in Sarcoma Care Excellence

Established in 2013 by Madlyn and Leonard Abramson and family, the chair brings greatly needed resources to the effort to diagnose and treat musculoskeletal tumors. The chair supports the work of an eminent physician-scientist in the study and treatment of sarcoma, and numbers among the many significant contributions of the Abramson family to cancer research, outstanding patient care, and cancer education at Penn Medicine.

In 2002, the Cancer Center was renamed the Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania to recognize the extraordinary generosity and support of the Abramson family. To enhance cancer care for families and patients throughout the Philadelphia region, the family has established several endowed professorships, founded a cancer research institute, and annually funded additional research and care programs at Penn Medicine. Their philanthropy and service have been instrumental in the development of the Abramson Cancer Center into a position of national leadership.

Leonard Abramson is the Founder of U.S. Healthcare and a major philanthropist in the Philadelphia region. Madlyn K. Abramson received her undergraduate and master’s degrees from Penn. She served as a Trustee Emerita of the University of Pennsylvania; Member Emerita of the Trustees’ Council of Penn Women; Honorary Chair of the Abramson Cancer Center Director’s Leadership Council; and served on the Penn Medicine Board of Trustees 1986 until her passing in 2020.

Current Chairholder
Kristy L. Weber, MD

Kristy L. Weber, MD is from St. Louis, MO, and attended medical school at Johns Hopkins. She completed her orthopaedic residency training at the University of Iowa, followed by a two-year research/clinical fellowship in orthopaedic oncology at the Mayo Clinic. She previously served on the faculty at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and Johns Hopkins University, where she was promoted to Professor in 2009.

Dr. Weber’s scientific efforts have focused on bone metastasis from renal cell and breast cancers, and is currently on sarcoma. She was recruited to Penn in 2013 to serve as Vice Chair of Faculty Affairs in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Director of the Sarcoma Program in the Abramson Cancer Center. Dr. Weber sees patients at Penn Medicine and the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and specializes in the treatment of patients with both benign and malignant bone and soft tissue tumors.