Lisa Dean Moseley Foundation Institute for Cancer and Blood Disorders
We broke ground! Learn about our new institute and help us build. See How You Can Help
- Overview
- Moseley Foundation Institute
- Research & Care
- Endowment
- Lisa Dean Moseley Foundation
A Gift That Sets a New Standard for Care and Treatment
Nemours Children’s is built on a vision of providing world-class, compassionate care to children. With the support of a $78 million donation from the Lisa Dean Moseley Foundation, our new Lisa Dean Moseley Foundation Institute for Cancer and Blood Disorders allows us to care for and serve more children, in new and better ways. We will create new spaces, house new programs, recruit more talent and make immediate and long-term impacts in treatment and research.
Help Us Do More
It is within our power to further transform cancer and blood disorder care for our community’s children. We have the vision, the know-how and the passion, but we need your help. Your gift will enable Nemours Children’s Health, Delaware Valley to surround families with a full range of support.
Learn About the Moseley Foundation Institute
New Investment, new future — same mission: Improve the lives of children.
Well Beyond Medicine
We’re raising the bar for pediatric cancer and blood disorder care — helping children in Delaware and beyond. It’s part of going well beyond medicine, by looking at all the factors that contribute to the health and well-being of children.
Where Excellent Care & Research Converge
We recently broke ground on our new Moseley Foundation Institute. This inpatient and outpatient unit features a tailored space that brings all care and research under the same roof. Rather than the space shaping the care, the space is designed around the care.
The new facility will foster research advances, innovation and collaboration. By centralizing all aspects of treatment, we can better support our patients’ physical, mental and emotional well-being.
Creating a Place Where Families Feel at Home
We’re creating spaces that feel home-like and designing an environment that is highly supportive to the needs of the whole family, ensuring the best possible outcomes for patients.
In designing the unit, care was taken to address the needs of patients of all ages — from infancy through late adolescence and early adulthood. We also considered the needs of parents and caregivers, many of whom will spend most of their time on the unit early in the morning or late at night between their regular hours of work and tending to responsibilities at home.
To create the best, most supportive environment for our patients and their families, we chose the theme of “home” when designating spaces both for care and for respite. We want to provide families with the ability to adhere to treatment schedules while at the same time creating comfortable, soothing environments for family time, rest and activities that would be happening in the comfort of home, were they not in the hospital.
The ultimate design of all spaces — treatment and nontreatment — reflects our desire to keep life in the hospital as normalized as possible. Consideration was given to a patient’s and family’s morning routine, mealtime, daily commute patterns, learning opportunities, playtime with friends, activities and hobbies, home responsibilities and the nighttime routine.
Help Us Do More
Children love to play and be well — we will provide them with the space and opportunity to do so. We could use your support.
We’re offering opportunities for naming and recognition within our fifth floor inpatient unit. If you’d like to help, please contact:
Kevin Carraccio (267) 847-2097
kevin.carraccio@nemours.org
Together we can provide the best experience for what may be the worst time in a family’s life.
Activity Areas for Kids and Families
In each of the six activity areas on the unit, we designed distinct spaces that could be used for and actively facilitate each of these parts of a patient’s and family’s life.
The Kitchen
The kitchen is truly the heart of the home — a warm, nourishing space where memories are made, and traditions are passed down through generations. It's a gathering place for family and friends, filled with the aromas of beloved recipes and the sounds of laughter and conversation.
Oftentimes, certain foods are better for patients with specific conditions or combined with particular phases of treatment. Sometimes, kids just want to — and will only — eat their favorite chocolate chip cookies when they do not feel well. In the kitchen, families can learn together, prepare meals together and keep family traditions of communication and sharing alive while in our care.
Name this room for $1,000,000
The Great Room
A communal living room is available for patients and their families to relax, play and watch movies together. It also serves as a space for group activities organized by the Child Life program, such as crafts, movies, games and other fun and therapeutic activities.
Name this room for $1,000,000
Teen Hang Out
Designed for adolescents to escape from their rooms, this space will be a fun hangout area where they can watch movies, play video games, listen to music and engage in other fun and therapeutic activities.
Name this room for $1,000,000
The Rec Room
Geared for physical activity, the rec room is like a mini gym for patients. It was designed for physical therapy activities and other active treatments.
Name this room for $1,000,000
The Backyard
A playroom for younger kids. Since it is in the transplant/immunocompromised area of the floor, it is limited to one child or family at a time.
Name this room for $1,000,000
The Playroom
This is an area just for younger kids. Since it is on the floor's general hematology/oncology side, it was designed to be more communal.
Name this room for $1,000,000
Opportunities for Naming & Recognition
A portion of each gift will create an endowment to support the programs and services offered within the spaces named. Examples include Social Work, Child Life and Creative Arts Therapies, including Music, Animal and Art Therapy.
Fifth Floor | 5 West Inpatient Unit | $5,000,000
24 inpatient beds with patient and family supportive spaces
Entrance
Greeter Station | $500,000
Kitchen | $1,000,000
Hematology Oncology (Hem-Onc)
Patient Room | 0 of 8 Reserved | $50,000
Team Station | 0 of 2 Reserved | $250,000
Hangout Area | $1,000,000
Playroom Area | $1,000,000
Transplantation & Cellular Therapy (TCT)
Patient Room | 0 of 12 Reserved | $50,000
Team Station | 0 of 3 Reserved | $250,000
The Backyard | $1,000,000
Great Room | $1,000,000
Rec Room | $1,000,000
Swing Bed Pod (Hem-Onc or TCT)
Patient Room | 0 of 4 Reserved | $50,000
Team Station | $250,000
Day Hospital and Infusion Center
Details coming soon.
Want to see more?
The Moseley Foundation Institute’s design, which was informed by patient family input and best practices, will create a space where all patient needs can be addressed, and staff can provide compassionate care in an environment that ensures family privacy and comfort. The space will incorporate the latest technology and architectural design to promote healing and recovery.
The Lisa Dean Moseley Foundation Institute was established to improve the health of children and adolescents diagnosed with cancer, sickle cell disease and other blood disorders. The Moseley Foundation Institute enables collaborative education and research and clinical advances through dedicated funding, enhancement of academic partnerships and innovative application of novel approaches. The findings of the Moseley Foundation Institute will be shared with health care communities worldwide through the Lisa Dean Moseley Foundation International Symposium.
Addressing Needs in Sickle Cell Disease Research and Care
One in 365 African American children in the United States is born with sickle cell disease.1 Sickle cell disease is an excruciating and debilitating blood disorder that causes tremendous suffering and early death, particularly in African American children. The disease is one of the most profound examples of race-based inequity in the U.S. health care system. Sickle cell disease research and treatment is massively underfunded compared to similar diseases that primarily afflict white children.2 Currently, sickle cell clinical trials are half as likely to be completed and published as other trials due to insufficient support.3
Nemours is among the leading institutions in the country in sickle cell treatment and research and in directly combatting health inequity. In 2016, Nemours was awarded $10.2 million and designated the only Center for Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE) for sickle cell disease in America by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). In 2021, Nemours received a $10.5 million NIH COBRE renewal grant to support the Nemours-led Delaware Comprehensive Sickle Cell Research Program. This award brings NIH funding for clinical, translational and psychosocial research in sickle cell disease at Nemours to $20.7 million. Nemours looks forward to leveraging the gift from the Moseley Foundation to further this important work.
The Lisa Dean Moseley Foundation Endowed Chair for Sickle Cell Disease will accelerate research, enhance better and more effective patient-centered treatment paradigms and place a laser focus on identifying and eliminating barriers to accessing care and lifesaving clinical trials. Doing so ensures that every child receives the expert care they need, regardless of race, social or economic circumstances.
1-Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Data & Statistics on Sickle Cell Disease
2-Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), Comparison of US Federal and Foundation Funding of Research for Sickle Cell Disease and Cystic Fibrosis and Factors Associated With Research Productivity
3-National Library of Medicine, Attitudes Towards Clinical Trials Among Patients With Sickle Cell Disease
"Nemours helps us navigate this disease.”
"I feel very blessed for the expertise and support from my incredible team at Nemours."
Advancing Pediatric Cancer Care
Sickle cell disease isn’t the only area of opportunity. Currently, only 4% of federal cancer research funding goes to pediatric cancer.1
We are proud to offer children in our care access to these groundbreaking treatment options. And we believe we can do even more.
The Moseley Foundation Institute will feature the Lisa Dean Moseley Foundation Institute Endowed Laureate Program. Guided by an annual research goal statement, a scientific review board will consider proposals for funding from around the world. The board will focus on engaging leading global research teams from a variety of disciplines, both inside and outside traditional laboratories. A portion of these funds will be allocated to junior investigators each year.
Finally, a Lisa Dean Moseley Foundation International Symposium, held every other year, will help international scholars learn from one another. It will also highlight Moseley Foundation Institute accomplishments.
At Nemours, we’re proud of the exceptional care we’ve been privileged to offer. Our most recent efforts are a continuation of that excellence. We aim to advance care for all children, both within our walls and well beyond them.
Building on Achievements in Blood Disorders and Cancer
Creating the new institute is not the first time we have taken bold, ambitious plans and turned them into reality, including for cancer and blood disorders. Since the start of the NCCBD 30 years ago, our team, with support from the Moseley Foundation and others, has achieved many milestones.
4%
2
48 Beds
Highlights include:
Conducted innovative research projects — initiated by our investigators — targeting sickle cell disease. We have focused on developing novel diagnostic tools and improving the way research is approached. We have also created intervention strategies to address the effects of racism and stigma on managing the disease.
Created the only sickle cell center in the country designated a National Institutes of Health (NIH) Center of Biomedical Research.
Developed two fully accredited transplant and cellular therapy programs.
Secured the designation of a National Cancer Institute (NCI) Community Oncology Research Program — one of just two children’s hospitals nationally to do so.
Ranked second nationally in enrolling children in NCI-funded trials for cancer and blood disorders.
Learn more about the services we can provide.
We have a wide array of oncology expertise and services all in one health system.
Supporting Fertility Preservation Through the Andrew McDonough B+ Foundation Fertility Preservation Program
Chemotherapy is a treatment that can save lives, but it may affect the ability to have children later on. We partner with fertility experts to help kids and teens who are going through chemotherapy and radiation therapy. Our program provides information and support on ways they may be able to preserve their ability to have children in the future.
We’re called the Andrew McDonough B+ Foundation Fertility Preservation Program at the Lisa Dean Moseley Foundation Institute for Cancer and Blood Disorders. Our program has experts from different medical areas who can offer options to preserve fertility, such as:
- Freezing eggs
- Freezing ovarian tissue
- Moving ovaries away from radiation
- Freezing sperm
- Freezing testicular tissue
Our team will talk to you about all the options and help you understand the potential benefits and risks. Here's what you can expect:
- Timely counseling so your child can start treatment quickly. We will meet with you before treatment begins. These early meetings may offer more options and prevent care delays in treatment plans.
- Education about how the treatment might affect fertility. We will answer any questions you have and help you with any worries you might have about money or medical issues. We want to give you all the information you need to make the best choices for your child's future.
- Support every step of the way. Preserving fertility can be complicated and involve meeting with other specialists, such as reproductive endocrinologists. We will help arrange related treatment and services.
Questions about our program? Please contact us at (302) 651-5754 or fertilitypreservation@nemours.org.
For more information on cancer and fertility, visit Nemours KidsHealth.org.
Honoring a Legacy of Compassionate Vision and Generosity
Lisa Dean Moseley was born in 1929 in Wilmington, Delaware to Paulina du Pont Dean and J. Simpson Dean, Sr. As a child, Lisa grew up across the Brandywine River within several miles of the Nemours Children’s Hospital, Delaware (at that time known as the Alfred I. duPont Institute).
Throughout her life, Lisa continued the du Pont family legacy of philanthropy, including her support of innovative medical research in the fields of cancer and stem cell therapy. She had a particular interest in supporting research into otherwise overlooked and underfunded areas. Her vibrant and vivacious personality permeated all that she did, including her philanthropic efforts and great love for gardening, the outdoors and golf (a sport that she excelled at early in her life).
Formed in 2004, the Lisa Dean Moseley Foundation is a nonprofit organization that supports basic medical and scientific research. The Foundation generally accomplishes these goals by collaborating with and funding research and clinical programs undertaken by highly qualified organizations such as Nemours Children’s, the American Cancer Society, the Helen Graham Cancer Center and the Cleveland Clinic (among many other research institutions supported by grants made by the Foundation since its formation).
The Lisa Dean Moseley Foundation strives to support groundbreaking research and clinical programs with the goal of improving outcomes and saving patient lives.
To that end, the Lisa Dean Moseley Foundation Institute for Cancer and Blood Disorders at Nemours was founded in 2023 to improve the health and well-being of children with cancer and blood disorders by addressing a range of challenges through improvement initiatives that span education, research, clinical care and quality of life. Lisa’s legacy of generosity will forever touch the lives of countless children and adults bravely confronting difficult diagnoses and trying treatments.
