April 19, 2013

The Warburton Family Foundation, based in Hudson, Ohio, has donated $1 million to the James Buchanan Brady Urological Institute at The Johns Hopkins University. The gift will be combined with a donation from urology professor emeritus Hugh Judge Jewett, M.D., to create the Warburton Family Foundation and Dr. Hugh Judge Jewett Fellowship in Urologic Oncology.

The fellowship will provide young physicians with the opportunity to focus on research for a full year in addition to receiving extended training in the diagnosis, treatment and scientific foundations of urologic cancers. It will be part of a fellowship program that began at the Brady Urological Institute in 2006. Only one fellow is accepted into the program every two years.

“This fellowship is vitally important to the ongoing training of talented future academic urologists in basic science, surgery and clinical medicine,” says Alan Partin, M.D., Ph.D., professor and director of the Department of Urology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. “We are deeply grateful for this visionary investment in our postdoctoral fellows.” 

Ralph T. Warburton, M.D., was an internist from North Canton, Ohio, who was married to Esther L. Warburton, a nurse who supported her husband in his practice throughout their years together. Both are now deceased.

Dr. Warburton was one of the founders of the North Canton Medical Foundation and was well known for his continual quest for knowledge, his compassion for his patients and his vision to improve health care delivery.

Dr. Hugh J. Jewett, also deceased, was a distinguished urologist at the Brady Urological Institute and one of the pioneers and founders of the subspecialty of urologic oncology.   Dr. Warburton was a patient of Dr. Jewett and they developed a deep and lasting friendship and professional collaboration. 

“The Warburton-Jewett Fellowship in Urologic Oncology honors the legacy of the Warburton family and its enduring dedication to the community, as well as the special personal and professional relationship between Dr. Warburton and Dr. Jewett,” says Patrick Walsh, M.D., University Distinguished Service Professor of Urology at Johns Hopkins. “This fellowship will strengthen the postdoctoral program for future leaders in urology,” adds Walsh.

Members of the Warburton family will be at Johns Hopkins on April 25 for a dedication ceremony to establish the fellowship.