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Health & Fitness

Cummings Foundation appoints Dr. Arlan Fuller, Jr. as a community trustee

Dr. Arlan Fuller, Jr. joins board of one of New England’s largest private foundations

WOBURN, May 9, 2014 – Cummings Foundation has announced the appointment of Winchester resident Dr. Arlan “Skip” Fuller, Jr. as one of its community trustees. A gynecologic cancer specialist, Fuller has been vice president for oncology services at Winchester Hospital Center for Cancer Care since 2007.

For the past two years, Fuller has served as an advisor to the Woburn-based foundation in relation to its work in Rwanda. In addition, he and his wife, Alice, collaborated with fellow Healthcare Committee members to select some of this year’s local recipients of $100,000 grants through the Foundation’s “$100K for 100” program.

“Because of Skip’s initiative, knowledge, and passion, Cummings Foundation is better able to support nonprofits both in Rwanda and right here in greater Boston,” said Foundation founder Bill Cummings.

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The Fullers traveled to Rwanda in 2012 and 2013 with Cummings and his wife, Joyce. Cummings Foundation has since funded the construction of Butaro Ambulatory Cancer Center, Rwanda’s first and only outpatient infusion center, in collaboration with Partners In Health, a Boston-based nonprofit that works to bring healthcare to some of the world’s most vulnerable populations.

“Dr. Fuller has already brought so much to the Foundation. We are delighted to have him take on an official role as a trustee,” said Joel Swets, Cummings Foundation’s executive director.

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Among the 18-year-old foundation’s other trustees are the Honorable Margot G. Botsford of the Massachusetts Supreme Court; Dr. Anthony P. Monaco, president of Tufts University; and Richard C. Ockerbloom, retired president of The Boston Globe.

“It has been a wonderful opportunity for me to work with Bill and Joyce Cummings and to share their dedication to improving the lives of disadvantaged people, both here and in developing countries. It is truly rewarding to work with the remarkable staff of Cummings Foundation and to share their enthusiasm in efforts to address so many diverse needs in our communities. I am honored to be named a trustee of the foundation and look forward to working productively with an outstanding group of individuals,” said Fuller.

Among the more than 2,000 physicians in Middlesex County, Fuller was recently selected by his physician peers as the Middlesex District Medical Society’s 2014 Community Clinician of the Year. According to the Society, the award recognizes a physician “who has made significant contributions to his or her patients and the community, and who stands out as a leading caregiver.”

Prior to joining Winchester Hospital, Fuller was chief of gynecologic oncology at Massachusetts General Hospital for more than 20 years and associate professor of obstetrics, gynecology, and reproductive biology at Harvard Medical School. He has also served on the staffs of the Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Mount Auburn Hospital, and North Shore Medical Center.

Fuller graduated cum laude from Bowdoin College, and subsequently earned his medical degree, with honors, from Harvard Medical School.

A charter member of the Society of Robotic Surgery, Fuller specializes in the development of surgical techniques in the management of ovarian cancer, and the use of robotic surgery in the therapy of cervical and endometrial carcinomas.

Fuller is widely published in the field of gynecologic oncology and has taught surgery and demonstrated surgical techniques in Europe and Latin America. Within the sphere of global health, he is particularly interested in screening and early diagnosis of cervical carcinoma the most common cause of cancer death for women in the developing world.

About Cummings Foundation

Woburn-based Cummings Foundation, Inc. was established in 1986 by Joyce and Bill Cummings of Winchester, MA. With assets exceeding $1 billion, it is one of the largest grant-making foundations in New England. The Foundation directly operates its own charitable subsidiaries, including two New Horizons retirement communities in Marlborough and Woburn. Its largest single commitment to date was $50 million to Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University in North Grafton, MA. Additional information is available at www.CummingsFoundation.org.
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