Hope Conquers Death

“Hope cannot be a passive concept. It’s a choice and a force.” -David Fajgenbaum

In 2010 David Fajgenbaum was left for dead.

Over halfway through medical school, David was diagnosed with Castleman’s disease. A disease with no cure, no treatment, and no real extensive research. David’s organs were shutting down and the medical field was silent on what could be done. Death was a foregone conclusion in everyone’s mind, except David’s.

David got to work. He compiled a spreadsheet of every similar disease along with the drugs used to treat them. He reached out to any doctor who had even mentioned Castleman’s disease in an academic paper. Nothing worked, no one was coming to save David, except David.

After having his lymph node cut out, David took it back to his lab and examined it. He recognized a protein that was throwing his immune system into a spiral and due to his countless hours of research, knew the exact drug that could suppress the protein. There was no research to back his theory, it was untried, untested, but it ended up being true. Left alone with death, David had escaped. And in turn, provided a roadmap for thousands to do the same.

He now has a wife and kids and has dedicated his life to repurposing drugs to cure the incurable.

An active force.