Spencer is the Managing Director at Westpac Wealth Partners , which provides financial guidance to community members , business owners , and non-profit entities . Spencer already has a wealth of community service experience , a passion born from the personal tragedy of losing his sister to leukemia . As an informed and dynamic young professional , the Friends are eager to leverage Spencer ’ s perspectives and skills to energize and to help us move in impactful and innovative directions . His ability to connect to , motivate and communicate with diverse people will serve us well , as will his knowledge of fundraising and financial planning . Welcome to the Friends , Spencer !

SPENCER DUNG

University of Hawai ‘ i Cancer Center ’ s invaluable work , the Friends ’ mission is also to support the UH Cancer Center ’ s internal educational needs . In the past we have financially supported the Cancer Center ’ s summer interns , who are high school and college students that work with UH Cancer Center researchers on research projects , providing those students invaluable experience and inspiration . The success of that program has resulted in the recent award of a $ 1.3M grant to support the summer internship program . Now the Friends are very excited to support a different educational program .

We are proud to announce in partnership with Clinical Labs of Hawaii the creation of the “ Friends of the UH Cancer Center and Clinical Labs Fellowship .” This position at the UH Cancer Center will support a graduate student through three years of cancerfocused research work .

Currently funding for graduate students can be difficult to come by and usually derives from grants to the faculty mentor . This can create some instability for the student and limits the number of students that the outstanding faculty at the UH Cancer Center can support . By creating a three-year graduate fellowship that supports a single student , we will enable the Cancer Center to train the next generation of scientists . The goal is to provide the graduate student fellow with hands-on research experience in cancer biology and population sciences along with innovative training and mentorship experiences as he or she works to obtain a doctoral degree . The fellow will be chosen through a competitive selection process and the program will start in July 2021 .

Educational programs such as these are vital to grow the next generation of medical professionals , who will advance research and the treatment of cancer . The Friends are proud to provide this multi-year award to support a graduate student ’ s stipend throughout his or her program . We know it is a great investment in a better future for us all !