November 11, 2005

MGH proton therapy center now carries the name of a trusted friend

In a moving ceremony held Nov. 1, the MGH Northeast Proton Therapy Center was renamed the Francis H. Burr Proton Therapy Center in honor of Francis "Hooks" Burr, who devoted more than 40 years of his life to shaping and strengthening the MGH. Burr served as an MGH trustee from 1962 to 1987, as chairman of the Board of Trustees from 1982 to 1987 and as an honorary trustee until his death in 2004. He was particularly interested in the medical applications of proton beam therapy, which attacks tumors with a high degree of precision while sparing surrounding healthy tissues.

Burr joined the MGH Radiation Oncology Visiting Committee in 1972 and was an early proponent of the MGH facility. "Hooks advocated for a proton therapy center to be located at the MGH," said Peter L. Slavin, MD, president of the MGH. "He understood that for proton therapy to be more effective, it needed to be close to where patients were receiving their ongoing care."

Slavin; Lucy Burr, Burr's widow; Edward P. Lawrence, Esq., chairman of the MGH Board of Trustees and a trustee of the Massachusetts General Physicians Organization; and Jay S. Loeffler, MD, chairman of the MGH Department of Radiation Oncology, (pictured from left), formally opened the center with a ribbon cutting. A reception and tour of the facilities followed. The center first treated patients at the MGH in November 2001.