Thankful Thursday: Winning Awards

Stanford University Awards The Leukemia &

Lymphoma Society the "Sprit of Hope" Award



Stanford University School of Medicine has presented John Walter, CEO of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS), with the 2012 Spirit of Hope Award for Outstanding Health Care Organization in recognition of LLS’s 35 years of funding support to Stanford’s researchers.

In the last 15 years alone, LLS has awarded more than $27 million in research grants to Stanford University investigators, who are at the forefront of discovering innovative diagnostics and treatments.

The event was hosted by one of Stanford’s esteemed researchers, Beverly Mitchell, MD, director of Stanford Cancer Institute, who has made many significant contributions to LLS over the years. Dr. Mitchell currently leads an LLS Specialized Center of Research (SCOR), a program that funds teams of researchers representing different disciplines who are engaged in collaborative efforts to discover new approaches to treat patients with hematological malignancies.

Among their many cutting-edge projects, the team is testing a new targeted drug for patients with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), with a long-term goal of preventing the disease from advancing to acute myelogenous leukemia (AML). This same drug is being advanced in clinical trials by Onconova Therapeutics Inc., a partner in LLS’s Therapy Acceleration Program, a strategic initiative to form corporate partnerships to advance sponsored research in the clinic.

Dr. Mitchell also served as a as a past chair of LLS’s Medical and Scientific Advisory Committee and was a member of its national Board of Directors.

“It is truly a great honor for LLS to be recognized by a world-class research institution such as Stanford,” Walter said. “For more than 35 years we have shared a commitment to advancing outstanding cancer research and transforming the most promising discoveries into treatments to help patients live better, longer lives.”

Photo: LLS CEO John Walter Addresses the Audience at Stanford Before Accepting Award as Beverly Mitchell, MD, Stanford, looks on.