V Foundation Hosts Answer for Cancer Research Symposium

Distinguished researchers from leading cancer centers nationwide will discuss the latest advances in cancer diagnosis and treatment at the Answer for Cancer Research Symposium on Saturday, August 4, from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m., in the Historic Barrel Room, V Marketplace in Yountville, Calif. The symposium, which is free and open to the public,is part of the 20thannual V Foundation Wine Celebration weekend, a yearly signature event to raise funds for the V Foundation for Cancer Research. This year’s Answer for Cancer Research Symposium is sponsored by Blackbaud and Stamos Capital Partners.

Members of the V Foundation’s Scientific Advisory Committee will describe current advances and discoveries into clinical applications, new diagnostics and alternative treatments to cancer. The two-hour session is hosted by the V Foundation and led by Robert C. Bast Jr., M.D., Vice President for Translational Researchat The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.

William Nelson, M.D., Ph.D., Marion I. Knott Director and Professor of Oncology and Director of The Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins, will discuss the major advances in cancer research in the last 25 years. Nelson is a recognized leader in translational research for cancer. Along with fellow Johns Hopkins colleagues, he discovered the most common genome alteration in prostate cancer, which led to new diagnostic tests for the disease and has fueled interest in new drug discovery and other treatment options, now ongoing at Johns Hopkins.

Nancy Davidson, M.D., Director, Clinical Research Division and Senior Vice President, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center; President and Executive Director, Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, will discuss the extraordinary progress in breast cancer research over the last 25 years. Davidson is a world-recognized leader in the fields of breast cancer biology and treatment, having conducted laboratory research on the role of hormones in breast cancer growth. This year, the V Foundation Wine Celebration will be honoring vintners and breast cancer survivors Lauren Ackerman, Karen Aldoroty, Suzanne Pride Bryan, Gina Gallo, Robin Lail, and Beth Novak Milliken, in memory of Mary Weber Novak, with a grant in their names for breast cancer research.

Katherine K. Matthay, M.D., Ph.D., Mildred V. Strouss Endowed Chair in Translational Research in Pediatric Oncology, UCSF; Professor, Department of Pediatrics; Leader, Pediatric Malignancies Program, at the UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer, is one of the leading translational investigators in neuroblastoma therapy internationally. She has initiated several landmark randomized trials in high-risk neuroblastoma, improving outcome with myeloablative therapy and with two biologic targeted therapies, and she will discuss her work on synergistic therapy of resistant neuroblastoma.

Guests will also receive an update from cancer survivor Jay Ferrick, who was diagnosed when he was just five years old. In 2001, the V Foundation awarded a Vintner Grant in honor of Dick and Ann Grace for neuroblastoma research at UCSF on behalf of Ferrick.

Following the presentations, Scientific Advisory Committee members present at the symposium will be available for a Q&A session with the attendees.Scientific Advisory Committee members represent Dan L Duncan Comprehensive Cancer Center, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Duke Cancer Institute, Duke Raleigh Cancer Center, Fox Chase Cancer Center, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Harvard Medical School, Lilly Oncology, Mayo Clinic Cancer Center, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, OHSU Knight Cancer Institute, Prostate Cancer Foundation, The Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins, Stanford University School of Medicine, UNC Lineberger Cancer Center, University of California San Francisco Pancreas Cancer Program, The University of Chicago Medicine Center for Clinical Cancer Genetics, University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, and UPMC Hillman Cancer Center.

Date: Saturday, August 4, 9:30-11:30 a.m.

Location: The Historic Barrel Room, V Marketplace, at 6525 Washington Street in Yountville.

RSVP: No reservations are necessary to attend the free Answer for Cancer Research

Symposium sponsored by Blackbaud and Stamos Capital, but seating is first-come, first-served.

INFO: For more information, call 707-963-0611 or visit www.winecelebration.org.

ABOUT THE V FOUNDATION FOR CANCER RESEARCH

The V Foundation for Cancer Research was founded in 1993 by ESPN and the late Jim Valvano, legendary North Carolina State University basketball coach and ESPN commentator. Since 1993, the Foundation has funded more than $200 million in cancer research grants nationwide. Event proceeds benefit cancer research funded by the V Foundation. The Foundation awards peer-reviewed grants through a competitive awards process strictly supervised by a Scientific Advisory Committee. For more information on the V Foundation or to make a donation, please visit www.jimmyv.org.

ABOUT THE V FOUNDATION WINE CELEBRATION

The V Foundation Wine Celebration is a world-class wine event and auction benefiting the V Foundation for Cancer Research. Set in Napa Valley, the heart of California Wine Country, this annual special event brings together 600 prominent members of the sports broadcasting, entertainment, media, lifestyle, technology, investment, medical and winemaking worlds to raise money to fund vital research in the fight against all types of cancer. The V Wine Celebration has helped fund over 600 research programs at medical and research facilities across the country. Dedicated to giving back to the generous Napa Valley and surrounding communities that have so enthusiastically embraced it, the V Foundation has included many Bay Area institutions among its grantees, including St. Helena Hospital, Queen of the Valley Medical Center in Napa, Stanford University and UC San Francisco. Founded by Julie Allegro, the V Foundation Wine Celebration has grown to be to one of the top-rated charitable auctions in the country. www.winecelebration.org