Phoenix Data Systems – Giving Back

Special Feature - A Tough Test

As Featured in the February 2009 issue of PharmaVOICE magazine –When Chris Connor’s tenacious dad, Jon Connor, was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in the spring of 2005 he began a journey of self-discovery. At the time of his diagnosis it seemed almost impossible to all who knew Jon Connor that he wouldn’t beat it.

A tough fighter from South Boston and at the same time a caring, humble man, Jon Connor sadly succumbed to the disease 10 months after his diagnosis. “The cancer cells that eventually consumed his body were made of the same tenacious stuff that made my dad so tough,” Mr. Connor says. “In the end, he lost a fight with the only thing that could ever beat him: himself.”

Throughout his father’s illness, Mr. Connor had been by his side. As a healthcare proxy, he had access to his father’s medical records, and as a colleague of several of the doctors treating the senior Connor, he was also given an escorted institutional “hall-pass” and got to see firsthand the back office of the clinical research enterprise at a major academic medical center.

“I sat side-by-side with the radiologists as they read my dad’s CT scans,” Mr. Connor says. “I shadowed the study coordinators as they went back and forth from the pharmacy. I watched as they printed the labels for his sample vials. I visited the lab. I visited the infusion unit. And I visited the hospital's chapel."

On several occasions the elder Mr. Connor expressed concern that his son was spending too much time at the hospital. The younger Connor tried to explain to him that he really was working. His father would respond: "Well if you're working, then you should get back to your office." To which the son retorted that if he was so concerned about his cancer, then he should just get better and then he could go back to sitting behind his desk.

"I'd grimace and say 'you know dad, I really don't need your help," Mr. Connor says, "I'm smart enough to do my job on my own." But he never took me up on my offer. Ultimately, my dad succumbed to his disease, and I was forced to graduate from my ethnographic research project. But I've never forgotten what I learned. It motivates me; it has become my vocation."

Today he is actively involved in helping to find a viable treatment for pancreatic cancer and is raising funds for the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI) by cycling in the Pan-Massachusetts Challenge. In 2007, he raised $4,000 and every penny went directly to the institute.

It is a fitting way to honor and remember a man who was himself fit and active. Jon Connor was a keen runner and cyclist who particularly liked highly challenging courses.
"For my dad, there was no easy button; 'hills are your friends', he would say, much to the chagrin of his teammates in the Parkway Running Club before setting out on the infamous Dover run,' Mr. Connor says.

When Mr. Connor rode in this year's Pan-Massachusetts Challenge he did so on his father's favorite bike: an old Italian road bike.

Champion: Chris Connor, Director, Product Development, Phoenix Data Systems, which delivers EDC, eClinical and Imaging services.

Cause: The Pan-Massachusetts Challenge draws more than 5,000 cyclists, who hail from 36 states and eight countries. Now in its 30th year, the PMC hopes to increase its gift ($35 million in 2008) from the efforts put forth by PMC cyclists on Aug. 1 and 2, 2009. It is the largest single contributor to the Jimmy Fund, bringing in almost 50% of its annual revenue. The Jimmy Fund supports cancer research and care at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. To learn more about the Pan-Massachusetts Challenge, visit pmc.org. To learn more about the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, visit dand-farber.org.

Contact:
Jim Dorsey, VP – Marketing
BioClinica
Tel: 267-757-3040