Schaeffer Named Inaugural Evensen Professor

R. Christian B. Evensen doesn't have prostate cancer anymore, and many men in his shoes would prefer never to think about the prostate again. Instead, Evensen has become one of the best friends the Brady Urological Institute has ever had. He has given his time and generous support as of the charter founders of the Patrick C. Walsh Prostate Cancer Research Fund; served as a lay member on the committee that awards the Patrick C. Walsh Prostate Cancer Research Scholarships; as Chair of the Johns Hopkins Prostate Cancer Advisory Board; and now, he has endowed a professorship.

 
"What Chris has done is remarkable," says Patrick Walsh, M.D., University Distinguished Service Professor of Urology. "This professorship means so much to us at the Brady, because he not only has benefitted from the research and clinical discoveries we have made, he wants to help other men beat this disease, and he's helping to make this possible by supporting one of our finest clinicians and scientists."

 

R. Christian B. Evensen, Alan W. Partin
and Edward M. Schaeffer.

The inaugural recipient of the R. Christian B. Evensen Professorship, dedicated in June, is Edward M. Schaeffer, M.D., Ph.D., Associate Professor of Urology and Oncology. "I am honored to be the R. Christian B. Evensen Professor," says Schaeffer, "and I am inspired by the confidence that Chris Evensen has shown in the work we are doing."

 
Schaeffer, who directs the Brady's Prostate Cancer Program, is also Co-Director of the Prostate Cancer Multidisciplinary Clinic and Director of International Urologic Services. "Ted Schaeffer exemplifies the mission of the Brady Urological Institute by seamlessly combining surgical acumen and scientific discovery," says Walsh, who recruited Schaeffer to the Brady 13 years ago. "The central theme of his research involves understanding the clinical, biologic and molecular features of the most aggressive types of prostate cancer." Schaeffer's work is supported by the NIH, the Howard Hughes Institute, the Department of Defense, and the Prostate Cancer Foundation.

 
In laboratory work, Schaeffer has developed several novel approaches to finding how prostate cancer starts at the molecular level. He is particularly interested in understanding the basic processes that determine and drive aggressive prostate cancer, and in helping the men at highest risk of developing this most dangerous form of the disease. His most recent work on disparities in outcomes for African Americans with prostate cancer was honored by the American Society of Clinical Oncology with a 2013 Clinical Cancer Advance award. Schaeffer has also been awarded the American Urological Association's Astellas "Rising Star" award and the Howard Hughes Cilnician-Scientist Early Careers Award. He has written more than 120 peer-reviewed papers and has edited and contributed to multiple medical textbooks.

 
Evensen is the Founding and Managing Partner of Flintridge Capital Investments, an algorithmic trading firm, and Flintridge Capital Technologists, which develops these technologies. He is a Trustee of Johns Hopkins Medicine, where he is a member of the Finance Committee and Investments Subcommittee; a board member of Johns Hopkins Medicine International International; and also a board member of the Prostate Cancer Foundation, where he is the Chair of the Discovery and Translation Committee and the Development Committee; and a board member of the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Norway. He and his wife, Felicia Evensen, have six children.

Patrick C. Walsh introduces Edward M. Schaeffer as the inaugural recipient of the
R. Christian B. Evenson Professorship in Urology.