Phil Saunders

Longtime supporter of Medical Center research steps up with a major gift and a building for discovery is named in his honor.

E. Philip Saunders

The Saunders Research Building, the new home of clinical and translational science at the University of Rochester Medical Center, bears the family name of a dedicated supporter of the search for the causes and treatments of disease, E. Philip Saunders.

Just days before the opening of the Saunders building in April, the Medical Center announced a new gift of $10 million by Saunders, a Rochester businessman who had helped fund muscular dystrophy research at the Medical Center, much of it anonymously, for two decades.

The Saunders gift provides a major boost to one of the signature programs of the Medical Center—neuromedicine, an area in which Medical Center scientists and physicians excel in both patient care and research.

The bulk of the gift will go toward supporting outstanding clinical care and research in neuromuscular disease. The donation is designed to create two endowed professorships that will support outstanding clinicians and researchers. The funds will also create an endowed fellowship in neuromuscular disease, designed to help the University attract the nation’s best developing neuromuscular researchers.

Saunders previously has given more than $1 million to the Medical Center, largely to back groundbreaking research in the Neuromuscular Disease Center. Those funds have been instrumental in helping University neurologists make several promising discoveries about myotonic muscular dystrophy, the most common type of muscular dystrophy affecting adults.

“Diseases of the brain and nervous system are among the most common – and most devastating – conditions known,” said Bradford Berk, M.D., Ph.D., Medical Center chief executive officer. “Fortunately, the University of Rochester is amazingly strong both in treating these conditions and performing research in these areas. The need for cures and treatments is great—and we have the knowledge and expertise to create those cures and treatments. This gift from Phil Saunders ensures that Rochester will remain on the forefront of outstanding patient care and research for years to come.”

In his remarks at the gift announcement, Berk said: “The most important thing Phil has done today is give thousands and thousands of patients hope.”

The gift also will be used to support cancer research, particularly the Medical Center’s proposed research collaboration with Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo. The Saunders gift additionally backs the University’s commitment to clinical and translational science, accelerating the development of new treatments for many diseases based on discoveries in University of Rochester laboratories.

In agreeing to lend his name to the new research building, Saunders has requested that it honor those who have served in the country’s armed forces. Within the Saunders Research Building, a display will be created as a lasting reminder of his gratitude for their sacrifice.

The previous gift also enabled Medical Center physicians and scientists to attract an additional $22 million in research funding, creating jobs, boosting the Neuromuscular Disease Center’s reputation internationally and, perhaps, someday making possible a new treatment for a devastating disease.

“The University of Rochester Medical Center is not just a great hospital,” said Saunders. “It’s a major academic medical center with a huge research component, seeking cures for disease, attracting dollars far beyond Rochester and bringing those funds to Rochester, building an economic base, attracting new ideas and businesses, and providing jobs for many people. Those are the types of activities I like to support.”

Brainstorming research ideas

The relationship between the Medical Center and the Saunders family began in 1988 when Richard Moxley, M.D., director of the Neuromuscular Disease Center, successfully treated Saunders’ daughter, Patty, who had a severe attack of Guillain-Barre syndrome and was a patient in the Medical Center’s intensive care unit.

The encounter developed into a friendship that included brainstorming sessions about research. In one session, Saunders asked what paralytic neuromuscular diseases showed the greatest promise of a treatment. Moxley and Charles Thornton, M.D. (FLW ’92), professor of neurology, told him myotonic dystrophy. They also told him they had theories about molecular alteration as a cause, but needed “seed money” to fund the development of critical preliminary data for grant applications.

“Phil asked us to give him more information about the progress of our research and our plans for future studies,” Moxley said. “He said he would do what he could to help. And when Phil says he can help, he can really help.”

Saunders eventually promised $1 million over 10 years to serve as the “seed money” to help develop the research in myotonic dystrophy. The money accelerated dystrophy research efforts, resulting in several significant discoveries. It also helped the Medical Center get National Institute of Health funding for a Wellstone Muscular Dystrophy Cooperative research Center and a national registry for patients and family members with the two most common forms of adult muscular dystrophy.

Recently, Thornton’s research team has identified a promising new treatment in the mouse model of myotonic dystrophy. Moxley said he is optimistic about the use of the treatment in humans and hopes to initiate clinical trials in patients soon.

Once again, Saunders wanted to help. After extensive discussions with colleagues and patients, Moxley told Saunders the center needed more outstanding clinical researchers and enduring funding to secure their positions and research.

“We need to retain and enhance the capability of our world-class researchers,” Moxley said. “We need to be able to recruit more world-class researchers in the future and we need to assure that they make the University of Rochester Medical Center their home for the long haul.”

The University’s neuromedicine program has long been ranked as one of the top-funded research programs in the nation. At the Medical Center, research into diseases of the brain and central nervous system account for nearly one-third of all research dollars and activity. Neuromedicine research pervades more than two dozen academic departments throughout the Medical Center and River Campus

“This tremendously generous gift by Phil Saunders strengthens the University of Rochester’s stellar reputation as an international leader in neuromedicine and ensures that our patients will continue to receive care that is among the best anywhere on the planet,” said University President Joel Seligman. “The gift of these hard-earned funds makes it possible for our researchers to maintain a vigorous pace in their search for new treatments and to remain a beacon of hope for patients from around the globe.”

Saunders also dedicated his $10-million gift to veterans of the U.S. armed forces.

A serial entrepreneur

Saunders often is called a serial entrepreneur. He has been instrumental in reshaping the travel center industry, taking it from poorly stocked, overgrown gas stations to modern travel plazas with stores, restaurants, and lodging facilities. He began in 1958 with his father’s gas station and built it into the TravelCenters of America, which is now the nation’s largest chain of travel centers.

In 1979, Saunders purchased W.W. Griffith Oil Corp. and began the Sugar Creek Corp. chain of retail gas and convenience stores. In 1998, Saunders sold Griffith Oil Inc to Rochester Gas and Electric Corp.’s Energetix subsidiary and, two years later, he sold the 105-store Sugar Creek chain to Tops Markets Inc.

He has diversified his interests to auto rental, recreation and tourism, packaged foods, property management, and banking. He previously owned Econocar International and Richardson Foods, and served as chief executive officer of American Rock Salt and senior vice president of Ryder Systems. He also is owner of Essex Property Management, which maintains more than 100 commercial and hotel properties. Saunders’ business interests include Western New York Energy, Youngblood, Swain Ski Center in Swain, N.Y., and Bristol Harbour Resort in Canandaigua, N.Y., as well as Genesee Regional Bank, where he serves as board chairman.

Saunders currently serves on the board of directors for Paul Smith’s College, American Rock Salt, Western New York Energy, Lewis Tree, and Rochester Institute of Technology, where the E. Philip Saunders College of Business is named in his honor.