Heidi and Larry Canarelli met in 1969 when they were both seniors at UCLA. When their daughter, Stacia Lemke, was diagnosed with a rare form of brain cancer in 2023, they returned to UCLA for her care.
Lemke explains she came to UCLA for a second opinion, after having been diagnosed in her home state of Nevada. “Dr. Linda Liau [chair of the Department of Neurosurgery] met with me and said surgery was a possibility,” she said. “There was a lot of comfort and calm, knowing I had a whole team working for me. Dr. Liau wasn’t afraid to take on a challenging case, and I think that says a lot for the confidence and the care that UCLA offers.”
This year, through their Canarelli Family Foundation, Heidi, Larry and Stacia donated $4 million to establish the UCLA Canarelli Family Oligodendroglioma (OG) Brain Tumor Research Fund in the UCLA Department of Neurosurgery. These vital resources will fuel a comprehensive and dedicated OG research program to advance the understanding and development of novel treatments for OG. The fund will also support a fellowship to enable postdoctoral fellows and/or graduate students to focus full-time on OG.
The program will be led by Dr. Liau (RES ’97, FEL ’98, PhD ’99), W. Eugene Stern Chair in Neurosurgery, and Dr. Timothy Cloughesy (RES ’91, FEL ’92), founding director of the UCLA Neuro-Oncology Program and co-director of the UCLA Brain Tumor Center. Dr. Cloughesy has had great success getting therapies approved for malignant brain tumors, including the first-ever approval of a targeted therapy for OG. As each OG research track progresses, the most promising drug candidates will be translated into novel, early-phase clinical trials overseen by Dr. Robert Chong (RES ’20, FEL ’22), whose expertise is in developing clinical trials for patients with brain tumors. All three faculty are also members of the UCLA Health Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center.
“I have a lot of faith in Dr. Liau and the team there at UCLA, and I am hopeful that they will be able to make a lot of progress, if not a complete cure, for my kind of glioma for patients all over the world,” Lemke said. “I think that everyone dealing with something so life-altering should be given the kind of care I received at UCLA. They were extremely thoughtful and made me feel like a priority. We are in a place with the foundation — and not just because of my cancer, but also because of my parents’ history at UCLA — to come full circle and give to various needs. It’s really exciting that we’re able to do this.”
“I call Dr. Liau and Dr. Chong ‘Stacia’s angels,’” Heidi Canarelli said. “They changed our lives, and with this gift, we are hoping more families will benefit from their extraordinary work.”
Serving as a tribute to the family’s meaningful and far-sighted philanthropy, the Canarelli Neurosurgery Check-in Waiting Area in the Edie & Lew Wasserman Building has been named in honor of this gift.
For more information, contact Christopher L. Carbado at: 310-562-6498
Jacqueline Mazarella is a writer for UCLA Health Sciences Development.
