In 1986, Martin & Barbara Sass and Dr. Francis P. Arena set out on a mission to create a foundation that would help in the fight against cancer and blood related diseases. Its goals encompassed the education, research and patient care of neoplastic diseases. The foundation became known as the Hematologic Research Foundation (HRF). This name was chosen because it was felt that through research in diseases, primarily hematologic, we would find inroads into other diseases. Over the years, the scope of the HRF grew into many different areas. The HRF began sponsoring lectureships that provided a basis for the further education of attending physicians and scientists at major universities and continued the education of young physicians/scientists.

Martin and Barbara Sass have been the philanthropic backbone of the foundation. They allowed the scope to be as broad as the imagination and as deep as the needs of the community and of the physicians that have served on its panels. The Sass’ outstanding contribution enabled the HRF to take up the slack when government funding for research and other programs were dramatically curtailed and as a result of their ongoing generosity the foundation’s name was changed to The Sass Foundation for Medical Research, Inc