The Miller family of Longport honors Tara's legacy.
PHILADELPHIA The Abramson Cancer Center at the University of Pennsylvania is establishing the Tara Miller Melanoma Center, which will focus on the accelerated development of novel therapies and improved clinical outcomes for patients with the deadliest form of skin cancer.
The center has been made possible through a a donation by Tara Miller's parents, George and Debbie Miller of Longport, in memory of their daughter, who passed away from melanoma in 2014. Their donation also establishes the Tara Miller Professorship in Melanoma Research and Patient Care, ensuring Tara's legacy will live on forever, according to a release.
Tara Miller
Melanoma is the deadliest form of skin cancer and the American Cancer Society estimates more than 96,000 new melanomas will be diagnosed in the United States in 2019, while about 7,200 people are expected to die from the disease this year.
Penn Medicine and the Tara Miller Melanoma Center will support critical translational melanoma research, clinical initiatives, and patient education and outreach opportunities. The center plans to pilot new ideas and novel concepts that lead to clinical innovation, the release stated.
Tara left a lasting impression on everyone who had the privilege to know her, and now the research being done in her name will have lasting effects for patients far into the future. We feel honored and inspired that Tara's name will forever be a part of our efforts to cure melanoma, said Dr. Lynn M. Schuchter, chief of Hematology-Oncology at Abramson.
Tara Miller died in October 2014 at the age of 29 after her battle with melanoma. Despite a challenging course treatment, Tara lived her life with boundless energy and according to her motto, Make the best of it.
She advocated for melanoma patients at Penn Medicine, inspiring those around her with her unimaginable strength and positivity, while clearly articulating the importance of funding innovative melanoma research, the release stated.
By establishing the Tara Miller Melanoma Center, George and Debbie Miller and Tara's sisters, Kristi and Lauren, continue their work as champions for the Abramson Cancer Center and the melanoma program. All four members of the family have served as members of the Abramson Cancer Center's Director's Leadership Council and were recognized for their commitment to advancing melanoma research at Philly Fights Cancer Round 3 in 2017.
All of us at the Abramson Cancer Center remain proud and inspired to be so closely associated with Tara, and she's a reminder to us to work as hard as we can every day to make a difference for our patients, Abramson Cancer Center Director Dr. Robert H. Vonderheide said.
Tara founded the Tara Miller Melanoma Foundation to raise funds for critical melanoma research to change the odds for patients.
The foundation hosted its inaugural Make the Best of It Bash in Atlantic City in July 2014, only a few months before Tara passed away, raising $334,000 for research in the Abramson Cancer Center's Melanoma Program.
Subsequent events have raised more than $3 million over the past five years, and the Miller family covers all costs so that every dollar raised goes directly to research, the release stated.
The Abramson Cancer Center will celebrate the milestone on May 6, which is marked as Melanoma Monday across the United States.
