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Heather Cheng, MD, PhD, clinical director of cancer genetics programs at Fred Hutch Cancer Center, was recently named the inaugural recipient of the Marty Lazarus Weiden Family Endowed Chair. Cheng also directs the Fred Hutch Prostate Cancer Genetics Clinic.
The endowed chair was established by Paul Weiden, MD, along with his children, David and Wendy Weiden, and his wife, Bev Linkletter. It is named for Paul Weiden’s first wife and his children’s mother, Marty Lazarus Weiden, who was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1993 and died of the disease in 2001. The purpose of the endowed chair is to support the detection, prevention and treatment of breast, ovarian, pancreatic, prostate and other cancers related to inherited cancer risk genes.
“This is a tremendous and generous gift that will allow me to pursue a more expansive vision for how we at Fred Hutch can identify individuals who have genetic risk of cancer and manage risk through early detection, prevention and interception strategies. In those who develop cancer, we can leverage this knowledge to enable targeted treatment approaches while also ensuring their family members have support for understanding their own risk and their options to be proactive for their health,” said Cheng, a medical oncologist and professor in Fred Hutch’s Clinical Research Division and the Division of Hematology and Oncology at the University of Washington School of Medicine.
When cancer runs in the family
Inherited cancer risk involves damaging gene changes (also called pathogenic variants or mutations) passed from a parent in their sperm or egg to their child at conception. These gene changes can increase the risk of developing certain cancers and be shared by siblings, children and other blood relatives. A mutation in the BRCA2 gene is one well-known example. In addition to increasing the risk of breast cancer, mutations in this gene increase the risk for ovarian, pancreatic, prostate and other cancers. Dozens of other genes are linked with hereditary cancers, some more strongly than others.
Only after Marty Weiden’s sister also developed breast cancer did the Weiden family learn that she and some other family members carry a BRCA mutation.
“Our goal is to support work not only to identify families who have the gene and provide cancer treatments specifically directed at the gene but to look for fundamental ways in which the gene can be turned off before it causes cancer,” said Paul Weiden, who recently retired after decades as an oncologist himself, including time as a member of the Fred Hutch faculty in the 1970s.
Precision medicine for everyone from ‘previvors’ to survivors
Since joining the Fred Hutch and UW faculty in 2014, Cheng has established herself as a leader in prostate cancer genetics, studying ways to use genetics to guide the care of patients as well as their relatives who may be at risk for prostate and other cancers.
By learning more about inherited cancer-risk mutations and how these changes impact the tumor biology, Cheng strives to deliver on the promise of precision oncology, matching patients with the most effective treatments and promising clinical trials for their specific tumor. She’s also invested in providing genetics-informed precision screening, risk reduction and prevention strategies to people at genetic risk of cancer before they develop the disease, a group sometimes called “previvors.” They are often the relatives of her patients.
In 2016, she was part of a team that showed that over 10% of men with advanced prostate cancer carried inherited mutations in DNA-repair genes such as BRCA1 and BRCA2. Since then, she has conducted research supported by the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Defense and foundations. Her projects have included the GENTleMEN study (GENetic Testing for MEN with prostate cancer), the GIFTS study (Genetic Information to Inform Treatment and Screening) and the PROMISE registry to identify men who might benefit from genetic testing, give them access to testing and learn more about how mutations work together to influence cancer risk and outcomes. She is also the national principal investigator for the SWOG 2210 study of targeted chemotherapy prior to surgery for patients with BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutations diagnosed with aggressive prostate cancer.
Cheng acted as co-chair of the 2026 Pacific Northwest Symposium on Cancer Genetics and Prevention hosted by Fred Hutch and has served in numerous national roles, including as a member of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network’s guidelines panels for Genetic/Familial High-Risk Assessment: Breast, Ovarian, Pancreatic and Prostate and Prostate Cancer. Cheng is actively involved with the Stuart and Molly Sloan Precision Oncology Institute and serves as chief scientific advisor to the BRCA Research and Cure Alliance.
The freedom to take bigger risks that can lead to big rewards
Along with treating people who already have a hereditary cancer, “we have a responsibility and a duty to the next generation in helping their families,” said Cheng. This includes providing access to genetic testing, educating relatives about cancer risk, tailoring their cancer screening and advising them on risk-reducing options.
Increasingly, it will also mean offering research opportunities to develop therapies that can prevent or reduce inherited cancer risk in those with BRCA or other mutations. The endowed chair helps brings this dream one step closer to reality.
“It provides the freedom to explore more, to connect with collaborators across disciplines and to take the bigger risks that can lead to exciting discoveries, for which I’m so grateful,” said Cheng.
Fred Hutch President and Director Thomas J. Lynch Jr., MD, praised Cheng’s commitment to research that can improve outcomes for patients and their families. “Dr. Cheng embodies the focus we have at Fred Hutch on not only making important scientific discoveries but also translating our findings to the clinic, where they make a meaningful difference in people’s lives,” said Lynch, who holds the Raisbeck Endowed Chair. “We deeply appreciate the generosity of the Weiden family in supporting our ongoing work to unlock the mysteries of inherited cancer risk.”
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Five decades and counting
The Weidens’ connection to Fred Hutch goes back more than a half-century. At the dedication ceremony in 1975 for the organization’s initial location on First Hill, attendees included such luminaries as founder William Hutchinson, MD, Sen. Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts and Sen. Warren Magnuson of Washington as well as a young Paul Weiden.
Early in his career, Paul Weiden was a member of the blood and marrow transplant team of E. Donnall Thomas, MD, and he worked on transplantation biology in the lab of Rainer Storb, MD. In his decades treating patients in Seattle and Juneau, Alaska, for a variety of hematologic and solid tumor malignancies, he was involved in clinical trials and served on a Fred Hutch Data and Safety Monitoring Board for many years.
“I’m personally familiar with the importance of federal and industry funding for research. I also understand that these classic funders want to see preliminary data demonstrating that a new idea has the possibility of developing into something clinically useful before awarding a grant. The hardest thing to get funding for is a brilliant but unproven idea,” said Paul Weiden.
With a gift to name and endow a faculty chair, visionary donors empower scientists to pursue transformative ideas. Generous supporters have endowed more than 50 chairs at Fred Hutch to date, honoring faculty members and giving them flexible funding for innovative research. Endowment gifts are critical to long-term sustainability and a cornerstone of the Campaign for Fred Hutch, which is bringing together our community to radically increase the pace and scale of discovery.
“It’s important for Fred Hutch to have discretionary funds to support innovative, hardworking researchers exploring new directions, and an endowed chair provides some of that,” said Paul Weiden. “We’re optimistic for the future.”
