As COVID-19 began to invade New York City, Robert Pepkin’s life was turning upside down.
A CT scan revealed a spot on his lung. His doctor referred him to Joshua R. Sonett, MD, the Chief of General Thoracic Surgery and Director of the Price Family Center for Comprehensive Chest Care.
From Left: Catherine Shu, MD, Robert Pepkin, and Joshua R. Sonett, MD, gather in front of the painting Robert donated to NYP.
Robert and his wife traveled to NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia from upstate New York, where they were sheltering in place.
Robert felt at ease immediately when he met Dr. Sonett. “The first thing he told me was, ‘Don’t worry about it. We’ve got it,’” said Robert.
A biopsy revealed stage III lung cancer. Robert participated in a clinical trial led by Catherine Shu, MD, a Medical Oncologist at the Price Center.
“Dr. Shu and my teams work together 24/7,” said Dr. Sonett. “It’s true multidisciplinary care that’s transformed outcomes of lung cancer treatment just in the past five years. We led that change because of philanthropy.”
By supporting research and cross-collaboration, philanthropy laid the foundation for the clinical trial that saved Robert’s life. The study examined a novel approach in which patients received chemotherapy and immunotherapy prior to surgery, followed by a year of immunotherapy. Today, it is the new standard of care and Robert remains cancer-free.
“COVID was a scary time,” said Robert. “But I never felt afraid because I had confidence in my doctors and their teams.”
Four years later, Robert is focusing on doing what he loves—painting, spending time with his family, and going on an annual fishing trip to Alaska.
With donors like you, we can always do more to give more patients another chance.
Philanthropy makes success stories like Robert's possible; if you’re interested in learning how to support NewYork-Presbyterian, please contact the Office of Philanthropy at ags@nyp.org.