David Fajgenbaum, M.D., MBA, MS.c.

David Fajgenbaum, MD, MBA, MSc, is a groundbreaking physician-scientist, disease hunter, and author of the national bestselling memoir, Chasing My Cure: A Doctor's Race to Turn Hope Into Action. Fajgenbaum went from being a beast-like college Quarterback to receiving his last rites while in medical school and nearly dying four more times battling Castleman disease. To try to save his own life, he spearheaded an innovative approach to research through the Castleman Disease Collaborative Network (CDCN) and discovered a treatment that is saving his life.

One of the youngest individuals ever appointed to the faculty at Penn Medicine and one of the top 1 percent youngest awardees of a leading NIH grant, Fajgenbaum is advancing immunology research as Director of the Center for Cytokine Storm Treatment & Laboratory (CSTL), spreading his approach to other diseases such as COVID-19, and sharing lessons he learned about life, hope, and resilience from nearly dying through Chasing My Cure. Fajgenbaum holds a BS from Georgetown University, MSc from the University of Oxford, MD from the University of Pennsylvania, and MBA from The Wharton School.