O'Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center Magazine Spring 2019 | Page 8

“I HOPE EACH OF OUR EMPLOYEES, LOYAL
CUSTOMERS AND SUPPORTIVE SUPPLIERS WILL
TAKE PRIDE IN THIS GIFT, BECAUSE WITHOUT
THEIR CONTRIBUTIONS TO OUR SUCCESS, WE
WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO GIVE BACK IN SUCH
A MEANINGFUL WAY.”
— Craft O’Neal, CEO of O’Neal Industries, Inc.
Forrester says in preparation for announcing the gift, she
and her husband, Tate, explained the family’s proposal
to the two oldest of their children.
“My 9 year-old asked if we were going to cure cancer,”
Forrester says. “We told her that we didn’t know what
would happen in the future, but that the doctors and
scientists at UAB were certainly going to try.”
FINDING NEW TREATMENTS
The O’Neal family’s fight against cancer is a personal
one.
Kirkman’s son and successor, Emmet O’Neal, died from
emergency surgery associated with colon cancer, and
his daughter Libby O’Neal White was a breast cancer
survivor. Her husband, David White, succumbed to
cancer, as did Craft O’Neal’s mother Mary Anne and his
brother Kirk. Additional members of both the O’Neal
and White families have both survived and lost their lives
to cancer.
And they certainly aren’t alone.
According to the National Cancer Institute, an estimated
1.73 million people in the United States were diagnosed
with cancer in 2018, and more than 600,000 people died
from the disease. More than 28,000 of those people
diagnosed with cancer are in Alabama, and more than
10,000 Alabamians died from cancer in 2018.
“One out of every 4 deaths will be caused by cancer.
Clearly, this is a problem that must be addressed and
there is a tremendous amount of effort and resources
toward accomplishing this, but until it is no longer a
public health problem, it’s never enough,” Craft O’Neal
says.
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O ’ N E A L CO M PR EH EN S I V E C A N C ER C EN T ER AT UA B
The gift endowment will create an annual flexible fund
that leaders will leverage to bolster strategic initiatives,
advance discovery and, ultimately, save more lives
through expanded cancer care access.
“This gift will enhance the profile and impact of the
cancer center as a premier national destination for those
working to end cancer, and those fighting a personal
battle with the disease,” says Selwyn Vickers, M.D.,
senior vice president and dean of the UAB School of
Medicine. “It will have lifesaving results that can serve as
a catalyst for further philanthropic investment, and we
are grateful to the O’Neal family and O’Neal Industries
for their leadership in the fight to end cancer.”
The Cancer Center is more committed than ever to
outreach efforts with its education and awareness
programs. “Unlike many other institutions, we have
already made great strides in addressing cancer health
disparities, but now we have an opportunity to go
deeper and help Alabamians who are most at risk and
carry the greatest burden,” Birrer says.
“Clinical trials provide the optimal mechanism to provide
the most innovative therapies to our patients,” says
Birrer. “We want to expand the number of clinical trials
available but also increase participation from diverse
populations throughout the state and region.”
Birrer aims to steadily increase the annual accrual of
patients from 500 new patients a year to about 1,500
patients. “This is an ambitious goal but one that I know
we can achieve with proper education about the far-
reaching benefits.”
Therapies which are the result of successful clinical trials
often become standard-of-care treatments for people
with cancer.
and trainees across UAB’s campus, our academic
medical center, our expertise in clinical trials and
our entrepreneurial partners to fuel discovery and
advancement in cancer research,” he says. “The
economic impact can be huge. With the now exploding
biotech industry, I think there is a real opportunity.”
UAB has long been a key economic engine for Greater
Birmingham, but the gift from O’Neal Industries will
boost UAB’s already considerable impact on the city.
Birrer says cancer is the UAB program with the clearest
route to economic development in Birmingham.
Craft O’Neal talks with research team members from the lab of
Lalita Shevde-Samant, Ph.D. Left to right: Tesh Lama-Sherpa,
Victor Lin, M.D., Ph.D., and Mateus Mota.
The Cancer Center currently offers a mix of what Birrer
calls “different flavors” of trials — including national
multi-center trials and pharmaceutical company-
sponsored trials. But Birrer thinks an approach called
early drug development trials may prove to have the
most benefit for patients in Birmingham and the state.
“Drug development has changed radically over the past
10 to 15 years. It used to be a gamble, in the sense that
most drugs fail, and it was a bit of a random chance,”
he says. “Now, with the strength of modern molecular
biology coupled with extensive preclinical testing, the
chance that a drug is going to work is much higher, and
patients know that.”
But Birrer also thinks early development clinical trials
is a mechanism to attract a new generation of biotech
companies to Birmingham. “This is very important from
my perspective in that the companies involved in early
drug development are not only large pharmaceutical
firms but also biotechnology companies,” he says. “I
think we can create a UAB/biotech collaboration here
in Birmingham that will help our patients and also drive
innovation and revenue for the city.”
DRIVING BIRMINGHAM’S ECONOMY
Birrer says he has already found one receptive listener
for the concept of a future Birmingham biotechnology
park — Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin. And Birrer
thinks Alabama has a competitive advantage since
labor costs for biotechnology companies in cities like
Cambridge, Massachusetts are probably twice what they
would be in Birmingham.
“A UAB/biotech collaboration in Birmingham could
harness the knowledge and dedication of students
In addition to expanding clinical trials, increasing
drug development and pursing a potential biotech
collaboration, the Cancer Center will also focus on
recruiting top career scientists and physicians to UAB.
“We are determined to make our research bench deeper
with scientists who are highly motivated and show signs
of great promise,” Birrer says. “We want to enhance
each of our clinical programs with specialized doctors
who will apply new cancer knowledge directly to their
patients.”
Birrer says attracting high-caliber faculty and
researchers benefits the entire community.
“Every research lab at the Cancer Center runs like a
small business,” Birrer says. “They support the scientific
work force by hiring supply and equipment vendors and
contractors, as well as administrators and managers who
support research infrastructure.
“New faculty members also buy homes and settle their
families here, which has a significant and positive impact
in the Birmingham community,” Birrer says.
Known for his long view, Craft O’Neal says the potential
for increased economic growth in Birmingham was a key
factor in considering the naming gift. Much like O’Neal,
Birrer has a vision for a new dedicated facility that would
house every aspect of the Cancer Center’s operation
in one place. O’Neal hopes other corporate leaders
in the city will see O’Neal Industries’ act of corporate
citizenship and help make this building a reality.
“Our company has a nearly 100-year history here, and
that will continue,” O’Neal says. “We believe in giving
back to the community that has been so good to us. UAB
is the economic engine of Birmingham and, to a large
extent, the state of Alabama. My hope is that others will
see the exciting developments at the Cancer Center and
want to invest in its future and that of our city as well.”
Bob Shepard and Jeff Hansen contributed to this story.
UAB.EDU/CANCER
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