David Fajgenbaum, MD, MBA, MSc, FCPP, is an Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Division of Translational Medicine & Human Genetics at the University of Pennsylvania, Associate Director, Patient Impact of the University of Pennsylvania’s Orphan Disease Center, Founding Director of the Castleman Disease Center at Penn, Co-Founder & volunteer Executive Director of the Castleman Disease Collaborative Network (CDCN), and Senior Fellow of the Leonard Davis Institute for Health Economics. Dr. Fajgenbaum leads the Castleman Research Program at Penn as PI of 18 translational research studies, including an international natural history study and the first-ever NIH R01-funded research of idiopathic multicentric Castleman disease (iMCD). His published research has changed the way iMCD is researched and treated. He is also an iMCD patient himself, who is in his longest remission ever thanks to a precision treatment that he identified, which had never been used before for iMCD.
Dr. Fajgenbaum co-founded the CDCN in 2012 to accelerate research and treatments for Castleman disease through a ‘Collaborative Network Approach,’ a business-inspired approach to biomedical research, which has become a blueprint for advancing rare disease research. Dr. Fajgenbaum is also the Co-Founder of the National Students of AMF Support Network, a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting grieving college students. AMF has reached 3,000+ students on 200+ college campuses nationwide. He co-authored “We Get It: Voices of Grieving College Students and Young Adults,” a book for grieving college students and those who wish to support them.
Dr. Fajgenbaum’s work has been highlighted by the New York Times, Science, Today Show, Reader’s Digest, Forbes Magazine (2015 30 Under 30 Healthcare list), Perelman School of Medicine (2017 Young Alumni Service Award), World Affairs Council of Philadelphia (2016 Young Friends Atlas Award), College of Physicians of Philadelphia (inducted as a Fellow in 2016), Everylife Foundation (2016 RareVoice: Federal Advocacy Award from Rare Disease Legislative Advocates), Global Genes (2015 RARE Champion of Hope: Science award by Global Genes), and the University of Colorado (2013 Distinguished Service Award). Dr. Fajgenbaum received his MBA from The Wharton School, where he was awarded the Joseph Wharton Award, Core Value Leadership Award, Kissick Scholarship, Wharton Business Plan Competition Social Impact Prize, Eilers Health Care Management Award, Mandel Fellowship, and Commencement Speaker. Dr. Fajgenbaum earned his MD from the Raymond & Ruth Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, where he was a 21st Century Gamble Scholar. He studied for an MSc in Public Health from the University of Oxford as the 2007 Joseph L. Allbritton Scholar. He received a BS in Human Sciences with Distinction from Georgetown University, where he was USA Today Academic All-USA First Team.