T.J. Martell Remembers Walleman For Award

The T.J. Martell Foundation for Leukemia, Cancer & AIDS research and Global Action Platform announced the Young Investigator Award for Sarcoma Research to be presented at this year’s Global Action Summit to take place in Nashville, Tenn. on Tuesday, Nov. 18 at the Music City Center.

The award will be presented to Chunlei Jin from the Department of Pediatrics Research at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. Jin’s focus is on the mechanism of tumor metastasis in osteosarcoma, a form of cancer that claimed the life of Warner Music Nashville’s Lindsay Walleman, who lost her battle with Sarcoma in 2013. The Young Investigator Award for Sarcoma Research was created in her memory.

Walleman was a 28 years old when diagnosed with the aggressive form of cancer. Walleman’s hope was to give others with the disease a chance at living longer. During her battle, the Warner Music team rallied around her creating a promotion called “For the Linds” (FTL), having contributed more than $100,000 for the effort themselves. Len Blavatnik, owner of Warner Music Group and founder of the Blavatnik Family Foundation generously agreed to make a matching $50,000 gift to the Young Investigators Award for Sarcoma Research in memory of Walleman.

In October of this year, The T.J. Martell Foundation also awarded Jian An, Ph.D the foundation’s first annual Research Fellow Award. He is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and Urology at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.

Both the Research Fellowship Award and the Young Investigator Award celebrates the scientific research and future of the role of young scientists and medical specialists in finding cures for leukemia, cancer and AIDS. Each grant presented to the recipients is based on scientific quality and the establishment of strengthening of research collaboration with T.J. Martell Foundation’s funded institutions, an awarded Post-doctoral Fellow, the actual research and being a foreign national.

“The T.J. Martell Foundation is focused on funding of post-doctoral fellows in cancer and AIDS research who will be the leaders in scientific research of tomorrow.” said Laura Heatherly, CEO of the T.J. Martell Foundation. “We are proud to be supporting the younger generation.”

The Global Action Summit takes place Nov. 17-18, 2014, gathering around 500 top senior-level decision makers from the corporate, government, academic, media, investments and NGO communities will attend the invitation-only summit.

“Over the years, the Foundation has funded more than $260 million of truly impactful science,” said Dr. Gregory Curt, Chair of the T.J. Martell Foundation Scientific Advisory Committee. Next year the foundation will celebrate its 40th anniversary.