More Access Closer to Home, Closer to Hope
Sep 02, 2026
Read Time: 6 Minutes
Left to right: Mike Frye, Darla Lambson and Alexis Kaufusi at the Vineyard Cornerstone Event. The mile marker signs featured throughout this story represent the distance many Utah County patients have traveled to receive care at Huntsman Cancer Institute. Their stories illustrate why bringing cancer care, research, and support services closer to home through our future Vineyard location matters so deeply to patients and families.
Takeaways: The Vineyard location will reduce travel burdens for thousands of Utah County patients and families, making treatment, prevention, and support services more accessible.The new location will help connect students and emerging scientists with cancer research, strengthening opportunities for learning, discovery, and innovation in Utah County.Impact: Bringing world-class cancer care closer to where people live, the Vineyard location will help patients spend less time traveling and more time focusing on recovery, family, and quality of life.Summary: Utah County patients, emerging scientists, and donors reveal the purpose behind Huntsman Cancer Institute’s new location in Vineyard.
Each year, more than 50,000 trips from Utah County and adjacent areas are made to Huntsman Cancer Institute. A trip north before an early appointment. The long ride home after chemotherapy. The hours spent away from work, school, and family. For people already carrying the physical and emotional weight of cancer, those miles can become another burden to manage.On September 1, patients, researchers, donors, community members, and supporters gathered for the cornerstone celebration at Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah’s future location in Vineyard. The event marked the beginning of vertical construction and a significant step toward bringing cancer care, research, prevention, and education closer to Utah County.
In the coming weeks, the construction project will begin to rise from the ground. Yet the reasons for building in Vineyard have existed for years in the lives of the people the new location will serve—working to enhance access in one of the fastest-growing counties in the country.
They can be found in a father grateful for more time with his children, a former college athlete who returned to the basketball court, and a grandmother who resumed caring for schoolchildren in her community. They are also present in emerging scientists who want to transform curiosity into discoveries that improve people’s lives
More Time with Family: Mike Frye
Mike Frye holding a mile marker at the Vineyard Cornerstone Event Mike Frye and his wife Mike Frye and his family Mike Frye with his Father
Mike Frye of Orem was 41 when colon cancer entered his life in May 2021, bringing with it a painful sense of déjà vu. Mike was only 16 when his father died from the same disease. His father was 41 when he was diagnosed, the same age Mike was when he received his diagnosis. As the cancer spread throughout Mike’s abdomen, he feared his family’s history was repeating itself. At one point, he had 12 tumors and was told he might have only six months to live. “It felt like the outcome was inevitable,” Mike says. “It felt like there wasn’t a way out of that pattern.”A clinical trial reduced the size of Mike’s tumors, and he later underwent hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy, known as HIPEC, a specialty surgical treatment to treat the cancer in his abdomen, at Huntsman Cancer Institute. He has now been in remission for two years. Mike, a stay-at-home father, remembers depending on friends and neighbors for transportation when the effects of treatment left him unable to drive. Some appointments lasted six hours, placing demands on everyone who helped him. Today, he looks at his children and feels profound gratitude that his story is different from his father’s. For families like his, more cancer care in Vineyard will mean fewer hours on the road and more time together at home.
A Life Reclaimed: Alexis Kaufusi
Alexis with her parents Michelle and Steve Kaufusi at the Vineyard Cornerstone Event Alexis Kaufusi's Family Alexis Kaufusi catching a rebound during her time playing for BYU Alexis Kaufusi and her nephew Alexis Kaufusi on a hike Alexis Kaufusi's nephew and two dogs lounging in the sun
Like Mike, Alexis Kaufusi understands how quickly life can change after a cancer diagnosis. Basketball had been part of her life for as long as she could remember. Her father believed she would become a basketball player, and Alexis grew up dreaming of competing in college and eventually in the WNBA. She realized part of that dream at Brigham Young University, where she played Division I basketball. Then, at age 20, she went from competing at a high level to feeling sick and exhausted. She was soon diagnosed with stage 4 non-Hodgkin lymphoma and facing an advanced cancer diagnosis when her future was just beginning.Chemotherapy put Alexis’s cancer into remission. She returned to basketball at BYU, later coached high school teams for 12 years, and built a successful career. Today, she enjoys playing with former BYU teammates and treasures time with her seven nieces and nephews. She also remembers treatment days that stretched from sunrise to sunset, followed by an exhausting drive from Salt Lake City to Provo. “Having a location in Vineyard only 15 minutes away would have been a huge game changer,” Alexis says. For future patients in Utah County and surrounding areas, she believes shorter travel will preserve energy for recovery and for the people and experiences that make life meaningful.
Strength Through Community: Darla Lambson
Darla Lambson and her husband at the Vineyard Cornerstone Event Darla Lambson and her husband Darla Lambson takes a group photo with students while on crossing guard duty Darla Lambson and her family
Darla Lambson’s experience looked different, but it was grounded in the same determination to keep moving forward. The Orem resident was 59 when she was diagnosed with leukemia. She had been sick for months, but with no family history of cancer, she never imagined cancer could be the cause. Her diagnosis was followed by an intensive care stay, chemotherapy, and a difficult treatment course. During the hardest moments, Darla drew strength from her faith, her family, and the people praying for her. Her motto became, “I can do hard things.” When a full day seemed overwhelming, she concentrated on one hour. When an hour felt impossible, she focused on one minute.Darla’s cancer is now in remission, and she has returned to the people who mean the most to her. She is the mother of 6 and grandmother of 15, and she continues to oversee Orem’s school crossing guards, work she has done for 20 years. While she was hospitalized, local parents and children created a book of drawings and encouraging messages for her. Their kindness lifted her during difficult days, and their faces now remind her how precious ordinary moments can be. Darla recalls traveling for treatment several times a week while exhausted, sometimes through heavy snowstorms. She believes Huntsman Cancer Institute’s Vineyard location will make an extraordinary difference for people who will be able to receive science-powered cancer care nearer to their communities.
Investing in the Next Generation
Kai Bunker
The future of Huntsman Cancer Institute in Vineyard will be shaped not only by people receiving care, but also by those preparing to advance cancer research and treatment. Kai Bunker represents that promise. As a biochemistry student at Brigham Young University, Kai was drawn to chemistry and biology but initially did not know what a career in science might look like. That began to change as his coursework moved into complex cellular biology and the scientific papers behind important discoveries. Research offered him a way to keep asking difficult questions. Cancer research gave those questions a deeply human purpose.Kai is now part of Huntsman Cancer Institute’s Post-Baccalaureate Program in Cancer Research and works in the department of Oncological Sciences. He was drawn to the field because it allows him to combine his personal interests with work that will improve people’s lives.
Recently, he decided to pursue medical school, although he is still considering whether research will remain central to his future through an MD or combined MD-PhD program. The precise route is still unfolding, but the motivation behind it is clear: Kai loves science and wants to use it to help others.
Keeping Research Connected to People
Originally from Vancouver, Canada, Tayler Fearn came to Utah Valley University with a lifelong curiosity about biology and a desire to understand why things work as they do. While studying bioinformatics, Tayler began working in a physics laboratory, which focused on advancing cancer imaging technology. Tayler’s project used artificial intelligence to increase the resolution of cancer images. The technical challenge was compelling, but the work took on greater meaning as Tayler recognized how deeply cancer had affected people nearby. The experience revealed the human importance behind the data.After graduation, Tayler wanted time to strengthen existing skills and determine the right direction for graduate study. Huntsman Cancer Institute’s Post-Baccalaureate Program offered an opportunity to return to cancer research while exploring the intersection of informatics, nutrition, and epidemiology.
Tayler Fearn
The experience has exceeded Tayler’s expectations, particularly because of opportunities to meet with patients and seek their feedback on research ideas. That connection keeps the science grounded in the experiences of the people it is meant to help. It is also a powerful example of what can happen when educational opportunities in Utah County connect talented graduates with research that has the potential to change lives.
A Future Taking Shape
Mike, Alexis, Darla, Kai, and Tayler encountered Huntsman Cancer Institute from different perspectives. Some came seeking treatment and the possibility of more time. Their stories share a common thread: Each reflects the power of bringing exceptional cancer care, research, and opportunity closer to the communities that need them.Even before Huntsman Cancer Institute in Vineyard takes physical shape, its purpose can be seen in the people it is meant to serve. For patients and families, it means care closer to home. For students and researchers, it opens a path to opportunity. For donors and supporters, it offers a way to help shape the future of cancer care and discovery in Utah County.Long before the building opens its doors, its purpose is already clear: bringing more hope, healing, and possibility closer to the communities it is being built to serve.
Thank You to Our Generous Donors
Huntsman Cancer Foundation donors’ philanthropic support will fuel research breakthroughs and transformative access to care for patients and their loved ones near and far.
Left to right: David and Tawnya Bearss
David and Tawnya Bearss are committed to helping create a world without cancer through their support of Huntsman Cancer Institute in Vineyard. David is the co-founder, CEO, and president of Halia Therapeutics, with over two decades of experience as an entrepreneur and pharmaceutical innovator. They are dedicated to finding ways to alleviate human suffering through scientific discovery. Huntsman Cancer Institute’s mission is deeply personal to the Bearss, as David lost his mother and grandfather to cancer, and Tawnya’s father also passed away from cancer. Their philanthropic support is a tribute to both the lives of their loved ones and to helping fewer families face similar heartbreaks.
Left to right: Kim and Jennifer Bertin
Kim and Jennifer Bertin have built their philanthropy around values of compassion, integrity, generosity, hard work, and respect. Through the Bertin Family Foundation, they support humanitarian aid, education, community development, and initiatives aligned with their commitment to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. A hallmark of the foundation is the involvement of multiple generations of the Bertin family, who participate together in service and grantmaking decisions. Most recently, the family became a founding donor of the Huntsman Cancer Foundation $400 million capital campaign, reflecting a personal connection to cancer and a belief in the power of research to improve lives. Their commitment to advancing genetic and medical research is rooted in the hope that scientific breakthroughs will continue to change how cancer affects future generationsBringing this promise to life requires more than buildings, technology, and scientific expertise. It also requires people who believe in the mission and choose to invest in a future with greater access to care and more possibilities for discovery. Through their generosity, donors are helping Huntsman Cancer Institute build a lasting resource for Utah County families and future generations.
Cancer has touched nearly every family in some way, and the families at Flagship Companies are no exception. "While we all hope for a day when that is no longer the case, most of us rarely have a chance to be a part of the solution," says Pete Evans, Co-Managing Partner of Flagship Homes. “Flagship Companies is honored to play a part in creating a place that will bring healing, innovation, and hope to so many families. Over the years, Flagship has built a lot of buildings. Today’s event is a milestone in building a legacy for the community.”
Donor support and federal funding enable breakthroughs.
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