Leonard named as 2016 Manhattan Light The Night Corporate Chair
The Weill Cornell Lymphoma team prepare for the 2015 Light the Night event
The New York City Chapter of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) has announced John P. Leonard, M.D., (second from left) as its 2016 Manhattan Light The Night® corporate chair. Light The Night is LLS's largest annual fundraising event held each fall to find cures and provide access to treatments for blood cancer patients.
Dr. Leonard is the Richard T. Silver Distinguished Professor of Hematology and Medical Oncology and Associate Dean for Clinical Research at Weill Cornell Medicine. He is Vice Chairman for Clinical Research of the Weill Department of Medicine and Associate Director of Clinical Trials in the Sandra and Edward Meyer Cancer Center at Weill Cornell Medicine. He is also an Attending Physician and Chief of the Lymphoma Service at NewYork-Presbyterian and Director of the Joint Clinical Trials Office at Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian.
An expert in hematology and oncology, Dr. Leonard's research has been published in numerous medical journals, and he has served as a member of the editorial boards of Blood and the Journal of Clinical Oncology, leading international journals in these fields. He is Chair of the Lymphoma Committee of the Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology (formerly CALGB, ACOSOG and NCCTG), a multicenter cooperative group and key component of the National Cancer Institute's National Clinical Trials Network. Dr. Leonard has been an elected member of the American Board of Internal Medicine subspecialty board for Hematology, and he has also been elected to membership in the American Society of Clinical Investigation. He serves on the Board of Trustees for the New York City Chapter of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.
"Supporting Light The Night is a powerful way to partner with LLS to raise critical funds for blood cancer research," said Dr. Leonard. "I am honored to serve as the chair and look forward to encouraging other organizations and businesses to join me in supporting LLS by participating in Light The Night."
Each year, Light The Night brings together friends, family members and co-workers who form fundraising teams to support lifesaving research and improve the quality of lives of patients and their families. Participants in nearly 200 communities acrossNorth America join together carrying illuminated lanterns to take steps to end cancer – white for survivors, red for supporters and gold in memory of loved ones lost to cancer.
Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian will host the 2016 Manhattan Light The Night event, which will be held onThursday, October 6th beginning at 5:30pm at Rumsey Playfield in Central Park. Information on registering and volunteering can be found at www.lightthenight.org/nyc.
"When a loved one hears the words 'you have cancer,' it is a dark and scary time," said Michele Przypyszny, Executive Director of LLS's New York City Chapter. "LLS's Light The Night Walk brings light to the darkness of cancer through hope, research and support for patients, families, friends, doctors, nurses, researchers, colleagues and care givers."
LLS is the world's largest voluntary health agency dedicated to finding cures for leukemia, lymphoma, myeloma and other blood cancers. Through its efforts, it has invested more than $1 billion in cutting-edge research to advance therapies. Thanks to research, survival rates for patients with many blood cancers have doubled, tripled and even quadrupled since the early 1960s. Yet, despite these advances, about one third of patients with blood cancer still do not survive even five years after their diagnosis.