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How Michael Milken helped transform the research and funding of prostate cancer by applying the lessons of Wait Street to the support of science
Paul Lange and Leroy Hood ran up against a familiar problem in 1995, when they were trying to identify genetic changes that occur in cancerous prostate cells: They desperately needed to locate and study families with several living prostate cancer victims-a tall order, since this cancer is typically diagnosed late in life, Frustrated by the glacially slow process of tracking down families through men who came in for treatment, the University of Washington, Seattle, scientists turned to an unusual ally: financial wizard and prostate cancer survivor Michael Milken.
Milken-a crusader for prostate cancer research since he was diagnosed in 1993 with an advanced case of the disease---came up with what Hood thought was "a hare-brained idea." Lange recalls that Milken said, "No problem, we'll just go on Lany King Live" to ask for volunteers. When King's producers at CNN were leery of such a depressing subject, Milken says he phoned some highlevel contacts at the network. "I've known Larry for a long time and have been involved in the financing of CNN," he explains. And so, on 13 November 1995, King interviewed Milken, Hood, and prostate cancer survivor General Norman Schwarzkopf. More than 3000 people called in. In just 3 weeks, Hood and Lange signed up nearly 300 families-as many as most institutions typically enroll in several years.
Once called the most powerful man in American finance, before he was jailed for securities-law violations in 1991, Milken is a man with a mission. He has put the energy, contacts, and ambition that once earned him billions on Wall Street into finding a cure for prostate cancer, the second leading cancer killer among U.S. men. When he's not pulling strings to get the message out (see sidebar), his foundation has been bankrolling research, cajoling companies, and trying to break down barriers between institutions. Milken has brought to the field a survivor's sense of urgency, vast amounts of cash, and a knack for remaking organizations. And in the process, he is shaking up the culture of the prostate cancer research community.
Within I month of his diagnosis at age 46-when he was...