While a devastating diagnosis, the outlook for Duchenne muscular dystrophy—including quality of life and hope for a cure—has improved dramatically over the last two decades, thanks in large part to fierce advocacy and philanthropy from the patient community. 

Melissa Harris and John Harris, MD, PhD'05, have endowed a scholarship at UMass Chan Medical School to bring more opportunity to aspiring physicians. Established in both of their names, it honors the couple’s shared life, a joint dedication to John’s prolific career as a dermatologist and physician-scientist, and their belief that a student’s financial situation should never prevent them from pursuing a medical degree. 

For Mark Eastham, MD'82, the course to a fulfilling medical career took a somewhat unusual route. It was first set on a summer day in the waters off Cape Cod, after a preliminary stop at the Hyannis Port estate of a rather well-known Massachusetts family. Many years later, the Lowell native is funding a scholarship at UMass Chan Medical School to help aspiring physicians launch their own careers in medicine.