LLUH Board of Trustees Approves Robert J Marckini Chair in Proton Research

Thanks to enthusiastic support from members of the Brotherhood of the Balloon (BOB), a support group for current and former proton therapy prostate cancer patients at Loma Linda University Medical Center and other proton centers across the world, the Board of Trustees of Loma Linda University Health recently endowed the Robert J. Marckini Chair to fund proton research at the James M. Slater, MD Proton Treatment and Research Center. No one was more surprised than Mr. Marckini. As president and founder of BOB, he had flown to Loma Linda from his home in Massachusetts to celebrate the fact that the group had successfully raised the $1.5 million needed to endow the new chair. But his jaw literally dropped when he heard Cincinnati real estate developer Chuck Kubicki announce that the new endowment had been named in his honor. Mr. Marckini insists his reaction went far beyond surprise. “Shocked might be a better way to describe how I felt,” he observes. “I was taken completely by surprise when notified that a chair was being named after me. This is one of the greatest of honors anyone can receive. I intend to do whatever I can to support the chair and grow the endowment so it can soon begin funding important proton research at Loma Linda.” Mr. Marckini’s seemingly limitless contributions to the promotion of proton therapy can hardly be overstated. After watching his brother endure the unwanted side effects of prostate surgery many years ago, Mr. Marckini vowed to evaluate other treatment alternatives should he ever receive the same diagnosis. In the year 2000, after learning that he did, in fact, have prostate cancer, Mr. Marckini wasted no time in researching his options. “In the process of doing my due diligence, I discovered that proton therapy at Loma Linda offered an effective treatment without many of the side effects I observed in my brother and other patients I spoke with who tried other treatment options,” he recalls. He decided to give proton treatment at Loma Linda University Medical Center a try. He is very glad he did. “Not only did Loma Linda destroy the cancer, but the Loma Linda program also helped me take control of my life,” Mr. Marckini says. “I learned about diet, nutrition, and how to take better care of myself. My wife and I also had a spiritual awakening when we came to Loma Linda. It may sound strange, but being diagnosed with prostate cancer was probably one of the best things that ever happened to me. Loma Linda just didn’t treat part of me; they treated all of me. It has been life changing.” In December 2000, using the same professional development and organizational skills that had served him well as senior vice president of a Fortune 500 company, Mr. Marckini spearheaded the formation of BOB. The group rapidly outgrew expectations. Nearly 13 years later, it boasts more than 6,500 members in all 50 American states as well as 35 countries of the world. In July 2007, Mr. Marckini’s book, You Can Beat Prostate Cancer and You Don’t Need Surgery to Do It, was published to immediate and widespread acclaim. Readers and reviewers hailed the book for its clear, commonsense approach to the options available to men facing prostate cancer as well as Mr. Marckini’s forthright honesty in sharing his own struggles with the disease. Following the announcement that the new chair would be named for Mr. Marckini, Mr. Kubicki challenged his fellow BOB members to continue giving to the fund. To make sure they got the point, he offered a $100,000 matching gift. Several of Mr. Kubicki’s colleagues pledged their support on the spot and others made commitments after the meeting. The combined gifts from Mr. Kubicki and the other BOB members raised the value of the Marckini endowment for proton research by an additional $200,000. In speaking of Mr. Marckini’s contributions to proton treatment and research, Richard H. Hart, MD, DrPH, president of Loma Linda University Health, says his gift to the organization has been inestimable. “Since his own treatment for prostate cancer at Loma Linda in 2000, Bob Marckini has been passionate about this place and what it has meant to him,” Dr. Hart observes. In describing the work of the Brotherhood of the Balloon, Dr. Hart notes that it has “provided an incredible network of personal testimonies and sage advice for thousands of patients in this country and abroad who are facing their own cancer diagnoses. “In more recent years, they have turned their energies to raising endowments to enhance the research efforts at Loma Linda and keep the James L. Slater, MD Proton Treatment & Research Center at the cutting edge of this popular treatment for both cancer and other diseases,” Dr. Hart concluded. “Bob's legacy will now be memorialized in the Robert J. Marckini Chair.”