A Wharton MBA Vows To Fight A Disease

David believes the Wharton experience has helped him in three key ways. “First, gaining skills in managerial decision-making, operations, strategy and acquiring basic MBA training has been huge. Secondly, all of my electives were entrepreneurship classes. Being able to tap into that environment was key. Finally, just being connected with this network of really, really smart and talented classmates has proven itself to be a huge benefit in my fight against Castleman.”

While attending Wharton, Fajgenbaum co-founded the Castleman Disease Collaborative Network. The nonprofit organization is driven to accelerate CD research, treatment, and patient care through strategic global collaborations. He credits the business school as enabling him to focus everything he did on Castleman disease. “Every one of my projects I’ve worked on here can actually go to my non-profit. Wharton does a great job of being flexible with the courses to let us have our projects be dedicated to our startups.”

NETWORK ALREADY MAKING PROGRESS AND GENERATING FUNDING

David’s accomplishments while attending b-school were indeed significant. The Castleman Disease Collaborative Network has made a breakthrough in CD research, uncovering a new, groundbreaking understanding about the disease, what causes it, and how to treat it. Recently, the foundation landed a multimillion dollar commitment from a pharmaceutical company (name of the company is yet to be made public). The money from this commitment is the largest ever dedicated to CD and will fund a Castleman disease registry. With the registry in place, David and his team are helping to add strategy and data behind treating patients with the disease and keeping a close eye on which of patients have received which drugs. Though they have full funding for the registry, David’s team is also working hard to raise funds for additional top-priority research studies.

As he looks back on his time at Wharton, David is reminded of his most memorable b-school moment. “I got a chance to give a “Peer Perspective on Leadership” talk to 300 other students. To see that so many people were interested in my story and our organization was such an honor for me. There are, no doubt, a lot of other things they could’ve been doing, but they stopped to learn about my cause.”

Similar themes were heard in David’s speech during Wharton’s graduation ceremony. “We all have our own personal stories and an equivalent to my Castleman disease. I thank our family and friends for supporting us through them.” Perhaps more importantly, David urged his fellow graduates to think big. “Find your Castleman disease and go after it.”

A standing ovation occurred.

Anyone interested in getting involved with or donating to the Castleman Disease Collaborative Network is encouraged to visit www.cdcn.org or contact the organization at info@castlemannetwork.org.

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