Marc is the founder of Oxis Capital, a middle market financial advisory firm and has been an active investor, entrepreneur and financial advisor for over 20 years.  Prior to Oxis, Marc was a co-founder of Triangle Capital, a boutique investment bank and a director in the technology investment banking group of Prudential Volpe, where he was responsible for developing the next generation telecommunications investment banking practice. Prior to Prudential, he was a Vice President at Advantage Capital Partners, a $750 million private equity fund where he held board and executive positions at seven portfolio companies and had primary responsibility for troubled portfolio company management.  Marc was also a founder and president of a successful retail business in Florida and worked in the investment banking departments of Kidder Peabody and Salomon Smith Barney

In addition to the Band of Parents, Marc is a Vice President on the Board of Directors of Kehila Kedosha Janina Synagogue and Museum, a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving Romaniote culture.  Marc has an MS and BS in Nuclear Engineering and Engineering Physics from the University of Wisconsin Madison. He is married to Susan and has three children, Talia, Jackson and Kaitlyn. Talia was diagnosed with neuroblastoma on February 14, 2007 and after 7 years of fighting, she lost her battle on July 16^th, 2013. Marc is the co-host of the annual Play Like a Pro Charity Hockey game at Madison Square Garden benefiting the Band of Parents and the Garden of Dreams and has been featured on CNBC and New York 1 for his philanthropic work.

Mark Unger is an owner and director of Unger Global, a leading manufacturer of commercial and retail cleaning tools. Mark was born in Germany where he lived for the first 12 years of his life before moving to Connecticut.   He earned a bachelor of science from Babson College and currently resides in Connecticut with his wife, Mary Ellen and his two sons, Harry and Louis. He enjoys golf, fishing, snowmobiling and travelling. At age 3, Mark’s son, Louis was diagnosed with stage 4 neuroblastoma. He battled this treacherous cancer for 5 years with the leadership of the neuroblastoma team at Memorial Sloan Kettering. After relapsing with the cancer in his brain, his incredible team of doctors developed a new treatment protocol that cured him – made possible by funding from Band of Parents. This protocol is now helping to save many other children who are diagnosed with a brain relapse. Today, Louis is a healthy teenager attending Endicott College. He loves to ski, fish and play bass guitar. His son’s journey made it clear that innovative doctors who are willing to try new treatment paths can make the impossible possible. The Band of Parents’ mission is to fund new lifesaving treatments to help children reach their dreams.

Francesca is an educator who lives in Connecticut with her husband Jeff, and her two sons Jack and Brendan. Jack was diagnosed with stage 3 neuroblastoma, NMYC amplified NB, when he was two years old in January of 2004. Although he has had several relapses over the years, Jack has been in remission and NED since January 2011. Fran has battled alongside other Band of Parents board members to get more treatment options for neuroblastoma – and has endured inspiring moment moments as well as horrors that no parent should ever have to know. In addition to being a full-time parent to Jack and Brendan, Fran assists with many fundraisers, providing creative and technical expertise to fellow Band of Parents families.

Vanessa is a school librarian who lives in Northern NJ with her husband Daniel and her two sons Matthew and Luke. Luke was diagnosed with stage 4 neuroblastoma in 2013 and had a very difficult treatment path. Vanessa credits the life saving trials that Band of Parents has helped fund in helping Luke to achieve remission. Inspired by the advances being made by the neuroblastoma team at MSKCC she has decided to give back by joining our organization and helping the Band of Parents in our pursuit of finding a cure for neuroblastoma.

Caryn is a founder and was the President of the Band of Parents from 2009 to 2012. She is a long-term successful entrepreneur and is currently the owner of Total Potential LLC. Over the course of her career, Caryn has parlayed her background in education into two successful businesses. After a two-year coach training program in the late 90’s, she partnered with a corporate training company to do strategic planning and small business coaching. She also had a private life coaching practice for 4 years. The other arm of her business is sales and training for Shaklee Corporation.  Since 1994 she has run leadership seminars, and developed a strong customer base selling wellness products. After her son was diagnosed at age 15 with stage 4 neuroblastoma, Caryn let go of her coaching business.  Her son, Nicholas Toms Franca, lost his battle with neuroblastoma in May 2011 at the age of 21. Caryn recently finished writing a book that is currently in the publishing process. It chronicles the years of their journey with childhood cancer, and the history of Band of Parents. It is a book of inspiration and of lessons learned and wisdom gained when life is turned upside down. “Lessons From My Son’s Tattoo” will be available in 2017. She hopes to do public speaking and help bring the lessons to audiences nationwide.

Emily is an attorney whose practice has focused on securities litigation, white collar defense and other complex commercial litigation. A graduate of the University of Virginia School of Law, Emily began her career at Mayer Brown LLP in New York and most recently worked as Associate General Counsel in the General Counsel’s office of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), ushering emergency regulatory relief for the securities industry during the COVID-19 crisis.

Following her son James’s diagnosis of stage 4 neuroblastoma in December 2020, Emily learned that pediatric cancers are underfunded at the federal level and, as a result, progress for cancers like neuroblastoma is highly reliant on private funding through organizations like Band of Parents (BOP). The critical nature of BOP’s private funding efforts came to light when James was deemed to have widespread chemo-resistant disease and the next line of defense, and what ultimately cleared his disease, was Hu3F8 – the immunotherapy that drove Band of Parents to form. Given the importance of BOP’s work in saving James’s life, Emily and her family are fully committed to fundraising for BOP and working to change the future for neuroblastoma warriors.                                                   

Emily, along with a community of incredible supporters and enthusiastic team captains, has also led a 5-city top national team for Cycle for Survival since 2021, Team SuperheroJames. Her team has raised over $350k for rare cancer research and neuroblastoma, with all direct donations going to neuroblastoma research at Memorial Sloan Kettering in New York, including the Band of Parents funded neuroblastoma vaccine trial. In 2022 and 2023, Team SuperheroJames was the no.1 and no. 2 team in Washington, D.C., and her team is looking forward to tackling neuroblastoma and rare cancer on the bikes again in 2024.

Ken is a Managing Director with Corporate Finance Associates, a middle market investment bank. http://www.cfaw.com/locations.html#KennethLynch Prior to that, Ken served as a software executive, helping to grow and sell two companies. He graduated from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, in 1981 with a degree in business.  Ken enjoys traveling, baseball, grilling and spending time with his friends and family. His son, Nick was diagnosed with stage 4 neuroblastoma in May 2006. Ken and his wife Carolyn were told that the tumor was inoperable and that they should consider hospice. With that news, they frantically sought other treatments — and fortunately found that better options were available.  The family moved to New York City so that Nick could be treated at MSKCC. The disease was treated and the great Dr. Michael La Quaglia at MSKCC removed the “inoperable” tumor.  Nick has been NED since the surgery in August of 2006, and off treatment since October 2007. Now a Senior at UC Davis, Nick loves to fish, and work with the animals in the Veterinary Science lab. He is the youngest of four children. The family is from Northern California but Ken and Carolyn now reside in Sandpoint, Idaho.

Amiee is an event production and culinary professional with over 12 years of experience. Most recently, and absolutely most importantly, she has stepped away from her career to be a professional mother of two.

Prior to attending culinary school in Italy, Amiee spent 6 years working as an Events Executive in New York City where she specialized in brand marketing with a primary focus on planning and executing events, concerts and sweepstakes activations for large corporations.

Amiee’s passion for Italian cuisine and culture, led to her enrollment in The Alma School and her relocation to Italy in pursuit of a culinary career. Amiee’s immersion in the Italian culture and lifestyle, ignited a strong desire to bring together her two passions – event marketing and the culinary arts.

During her time in the culinary industry, Amiee worked in a variety of restaurants from Los Angeles to New York City. Her work focused on event production, team management, growth of business and new concepts.

In 2020, at the start of the Coronavirus pandemic and during an industry wide shut down, Amiee took on a new role outside of the corporate world and kitchen. She became the coordinator and manager of her new family, eventually leading to her current position: the coordinator of care for her 2.5 year old son’s Neuroblastoma diagnosis.

Throughout her life, Amiee has passionately worked hard to support the causes she believes in. Prior to her role in fundraising for Band of Parents, she was actively raising money and awareness for the Gift of Life, a nonprofit organization helping to cure blood cancer through cellular therapy, by participating in the activation of the Steps for Life 5k in South Florida. Most recently, she and her husband, Brent, have worked to raise awareness and funding for Band of Parents while supporting their own son as he battles childhood cancer.

Jill is a physician who has been practicing internal medicine at WestMed, in her hometown of New Rochelle since 2016. For 18 years, she worked in private practice on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, and was on the staff of Mount Sinai Medical Center. Jill currently has privileges at Greenwich Hospital in Greenwich, CT. After graduating with a degree in Human Biology from Stanford University, she earned her medical degree from Albany Medical College in 1993. Jill completed her internship and residency in Internal Medicine at Mount Sinai Medical Center in 1996. She spent an additional year of training serving in the position of Chief Resident of her program.

Jill became involved with the Band of Parents after her youngest son, Andrew, was diagnosed with stage 4 neuroblastoma in May 2010 at the age of 3 1/2. Andrew was treated at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, but relapsed in 2012. He was blessed to receive Hu3f8 and the neuroblastoma vaccine. Because of this treatment regimen, Andrew is currently NED (no evidence of disease) and has been able to resume a normal life. Jill looks forward to the day that a cure is found for neuroblastoma and all of the children who fight this dreadful disease will be saved. Jill’s husband Bruce is an oncologic radiologist and the medical director of an outpatient radiology center affiliated with Montefiore Medical Center. They have three sons, Lucas, Ethan and Andrew.

Misty is a top producing Realtor in North Central WV.  She resides there with her husband, Adam, and two children, Rio and Simon. She graduated with a BS degree in marketing and M.A.T. in teaching. Misty taught high school business education classes in Mt. Pleasant, SC for 6 years before starting her real estate career. Her son, Simon, was diagnosed in 2015 with stage 4 neuroblastoma at the age of 2 years old. She researched the best options for her son and thankfully found the team of specialists at MSKCC. Misty was inspired by the story of the Band of Parents raising funds for treatment that ultimately benefited her son. She is passionate about fundraising for pediatric cancer and among other efforts, hosts a successful local fundraiser called “Spread the Love” each year.

Gary serves as the CEO of each of PK AirFinance, Perseus Aviation and Merx Aviation
and as such leads the aircraft finance business for Apollo Global Management having
founded Merx Aviation in 2012. Prior to that, Gary, while a Managing Director in Citi’s
structured finance business, built out and led an aircraft leasing and trading
business. He joined Citi from Milbank where he was an attorney in their Equipment and
Transportation Finance Group. Gary graduated from Stanford University with a degree
in Human Biology and earned a JD from The New York University School of Law.

Gary is married to Kathleen and has three children, Charlie, Phoebe and Leo.  He is an
avid hockey fan and a long-time teammate of Marc Winthrop. Gary has long admired
Marc’s battle against neuroblastoma through the Band of Parents in the face of the loss
of his daughter, Talia, and is proud to have sponsored and be a leading fundraiser for
the Play Like a Pro hockey game in Talia’s honor since 2016. Having also lost his
mother, Lois, to glioblastoma in 2006, Gary is honored to serve on the Board of Band of
Parents and contribute to the fight to find a cure.

Jenn is a Chief People Officer in the technology sector and ​oversees Human Resources, Talent Acquisition, Learning & Development and Employee Experience. She is the President and Founder of JWI, a People Operations and Talent Consulting Company and serves as a Portfolio Advisor to a leading Venture Capital Firm.

Directly impacted by her grandmother’s cancer diagnosis as a young girl, Jenn became determined to help find a cure for cancer and has been deeply passionate about cancer research ever since. Her initial introduction to the field of biomedical research occurred during a summer internship at the Mote Marine Laboratory where she became uniquely interested in the observed low incidence of cancer in sharks and other marine life. Jenn has continued to work with children’s hospitals and cancer research foundations over the years, including Texas Children’s Cancer Center, Relay for Life and the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

In 2008, Jenn’s cousin Jessie was diagnosed with a rare childhood cancer at the age of twelve and unfortunately lost her battle two years later. Jessie’s incredible strength, infectious positivity and unbounded resilience have served as a daily inspiration to Jenn and her family. Jenn cares deeply about supporting cancer research in the rigorous pursuit of one day finding a cure for childhood cancers.

Dr. Kristopher Bosse is an Assistant Professor in the Division of Oncology and the Department
of Pediatrics at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) and the Perelman School of
Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania (Penn). Dr. Bosse graduated summa cum laude with
honors from Bowdoin College and he completed his medical degree and training at Penn and
CHOP. Dr. Bosse is a physician-scientist focused on the pediatric cancer neuroblastoma. After
starting his research career focused on the physical sciences, he was awarded a prestigious
Howard Hughes Medical Institute Training Award during medical school to investigate the
functional mechanisms underlying several neuroblastoma predisposition loci discovered via a
genome-wide association study approach. Dr. Bosse remains interested in defining how both
common and rare genomic variation predisposes to pediatric cancers, particularly in describing
the role of the BARD1 gene. Dr. Bosse is also currently part of a large collaborative effort
funded by a St. Baldrick’s Foundation-Stand Up to Cancer grant to bring the fields of genomics
and immunology together to develop new immunotherapies to combat childhood cancers. The
Bosse laboratory is currently using an integrated genomic and functional approach to identify
and validate novel cell surface molecules for immunotherapeutic targeting in high-risk
neuroblastoma and several related pediatric cancers. These efforts include a comprehensive
research program focused on developing glypican 2 (GPC2)-directed antibody-drug conjugates
and chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapies, the latter recently leading to the opening
of a first-in-human Phase 1 clinical trial for children with neuroblastoma. During his brief medical
and research career, Dr. Bosse has published over 30 peer reviewed manuscripts and has
received several fellowships and awards to support and recognize his laboratory research. Dr.
Bosse ultimately aims to develop a translational research career with the goal of bringing novel
laboratory discoveries in the most aggressive pediatric malignancies to the clinic to make
impactful improvements in clinical care.

Enid A. Haupt Chair in Pediatric Oncology, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center

Attending Physician; Department of Pediatrics, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center

Director, Neuroblastoma Research Program, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center

Head, Robert Steel Laboratory, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center

Education

MD, Harvard Medical School

PhD (Immunology), Harvard Medical School

Residencies

Pediatrics – Stanford University Medical Center

Pediatric Hematology/Oncology – Stanford University Medical Center

Board Certifications

Pediatrics

Pediatric Hematology/Oncology

Dr. Nai-Kong Cheung is a pediatric oncologist and cancer researcher at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) in New York, specializing in immunologic approaches for the diagnosis and treatment of pediatric cancers.  At Harvard Medical School, he studied suppressor T cells and B cell tolerance under the mentorship of Dr. Baruj Benacerraf, the 1980 Nobel laureate in Medicine.  Upon completing his pediatric training in Pediatrics and Pediatric Hematology/Oncology at Stanford, he has devoted his entire career to translational science, with a clinical focus on neuroblastoma, and a research focus on antibody-based therapies.

Dr. Cheung built the neuroblastoma program at MSKCC from the ground up in 1987, exploring dose intensity and consolidation with antibody-based immunotherapy, engaging a multidisciplinary disease management team, enabling MSKCC to be a major referral center for neuroblastoma, registering more than 100 new patients a year for over 25 years.  Over three decades at MSKCC, he has developed from bench to the bedside several monoclonal antibodies, including 3F8 and its humanized form (hu3F8, naxitamab) specific for ganglioside GD2, and 8H9 (omburtamab) specific for B7-H3.  For high-risk metastatic neuroblastoma, patient survival has steadily improved as 3F8 was successfully applied to eradicate bone marrow metastases, and 8H9 to salvage CNS relapse.  Naxitamab received FDA breakthrough therapy designation (BTD) in 2018 and FDA approval in 2020, and omburtamab received BTD in 2017.  This academic translational paradigm from discovery to GMP manufacture, IND application to early phase trials before transition to pharmaceutical sponsor has yielded several new leads for unmet needs in cancer.

More recently, Dr. Cheung has devoted full time to laboratory research developing new antibody platforms to engage T cells and to improve precision in the delivery of beta particle and alpha particle therapies.  Ganglioside tumor vaccines, beta glucan adjuvant, and novel IL15 cytokine complexes are areas of active clinical investigation.  He has pioneered immunocytology and molecular markers to measure minimal residual disease, as well as biomarkers of tumor response, while collecting and managing a rich human tumor and tissue archive to facilitate studies of treatment-related leukemia, neuroblastoma clonal evolution, and immune profiling.  He has published >370 peer reviewed articles (https://shorturl.at/mFKT5) plus >70 book chapters or reviews, and he was named as an inventor on 50 patent families filed by MSKCC.

Dr. Cheung is actively involved in teaching and mentorship of students, residents and fellows in oncology.  He participates in the efforts of professional organizations, including the Children’s Oncology Group, American Association for Cancer Research, the American Society of Clinical Oncology, and the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer.  Through the NK and Irene Cheung Family Charitable Fund, he is active in philanthropic support of education, training, and patient welfare, while being a strong advocate for pediatric cancer care in the US.

Assistant Professor of Pediatrics (Hematology/Oncology), Stanford University School of Medicine

Attending Physician; Pediatric Hematology and Oncology, Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital

Education

MD, Harvard Medical School

Residencies/Fellowships

Pediatrics – New York Presbyterian-Columbia Hospital

Pediatric Hematology and Oncology – John Hopkins and National Cancer Institute

Board Certifications

Pediatrics

Pediatric Hematology-Oncology

Robbie Majzner is an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Stanford University School of Medicine who is focused on the development and deployment of immunotherapies for pediatric cancer. He received his MD from Harvard Medical School followed by training in pediatrics at New York Presbyterian-Columbia and pediatric hematology-oncology at the National Cancer Institute and Johns Hopkins. His work in the laboratory centers on engineering platform technologies to improve the efficacy of CAR T cells in solid tumors and overcome therapeutic resistance. Concurrently, he is focused on translating laboratory advances in innovative clinical trials for children with incurable cancers.

Director, Neuroblastoma Program, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles

Attending Physician; Hematology, Oncology and Blood and Marrow Transplantation

Assistant Professor of Clinical Pediatrics, Keck School of Medicine of USC

Education

MD, University of California Irvine School of Medicine

MS, University of Southern California

Residencies/Fellowships

Pediatrics – Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles

Pediatric Hematology/Oncology – Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles

Board Certifications

Pediatrics

Pediatric Hematology/Oncology

Dr. Araz Marachelian is a board-certified pediatric oncologist whose clinical and research focus is neuroblastoma. Dr. Marachelian completed her pediatric oncology fellowship training at CHLA with an emphasis on investigation at the New Approaches to Neuroblastoma Therapy Consortium. She also obtained a masters in clinical investigation at USC. Dr. Marachelian is the director of the clinical neuroblastoma program, and has also been the medical director of Operations of the NANT consortium since 2010. In this role, she is integrally involved in protocol development at the NANT consortium and oversees the conduct of studies and their completion. Her research emphasis is on studying new immunotherapeutic approaches to the treatment of neuroblastoma as well as in studying minimal disease detection. Dr. Marachelian chairs clinical trials within the NANT consortium and leads the post consolidation task force in Children’s Oncology Group.

Scientific Director, Pediatric Cancer Center Barcelona at Hospital Sant Joan de Deu

Education

PhD in Medicine, Autonomous University of Barcelona

Pediatrics Specialist, Hospital Vall d’Hebron

Bachelor’s Degree in Medicine and Surgery, University of Barcelona

Fellowships

Molecular Pathology of Pediatric Tumor, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

Pediatric Hematology/Oncology, New York Hospital Cornell University and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

I’m a Pediatric Oncologist with a PhD in Molecular Oncology since 2003. After residency training in general pediatrics (1992-1995), I completed the pediatric Hematology and Oncology fellowship at MSKCC in New York (1996-1998). After, I did three years of Research Fellowship in molecular pathology, also at MSKCC (1999-2001). In 2002 I returned to Barcelona as the leader of the Pediatric Oncology Department at Hospital Sant Joan de Déu (HSJD) and founded the Developmental Tumor Biology Laboratory. From 2007 until 2012 I was the Head of the Pediatric Oncology Department. Since 2013 I’m the Scientific Director of the Pediatric Cancer Center Barcelona (PCCB) at HSJD.

I have published more than 250 peer-reviewed articles in developmental oncology. My research focuses on the origin of Childhood tumors with contributions in neuroblastoma, Ewing sarcoma, retinoblastoma, Wilms tumor, and DIPG. I have been distinguished with the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Young Investigator Award (YIA) in 2000; the 16th Schweisguth Prize of the International Society of Pediatric Oncology (SIOP) in 2001; and the ASCO Career Development Award in 2001. I won the first Research grant for pediatric Oncology of the Spanish Association against cancer (AECC) in 2006; the first Research Award of Translational Oncology of the FERO Society in 2009; and the First Martí Via Award of Translational Oncology of the Fundació Vallformosa in 2015. I’m the Local committee Chair for SIOP 2022.

Finally, I’m the Founder of the Pediatric Cancer Center Barcelona (PCCB) at Hospital Sant Joan de Déu (HSJD), opening June 16^th, 2022; and the Local organizing committee Chair for SIOP 2022 in Barcelona, September 28-October 1.

Medical Director, Intra-abdominal Solid Tumor Program, Children’s Hospital at Montefiore

Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Genetics, Albert Einstein College of Medicine

Education

MD, Stony Brook University, NY

Residencies/Fellowships

Pediatrics – New York Presbyterian/Columbia University

Pediatric Hematology/Oncology – Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia

Board Certifications

Pediatrics

Pediatric Hematology/Oncology

Dr. Daniel A. Weiser is an experienced pediatric hematology/oncology physician and dedicated childhood cancer researcher. A graduate of the Stony Brook University School of Medicine, Dr. Weiser received pediatrics training at New York Presbyterian/Columbia and pediatric hematology/oncology training at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia/University of Pennsylvania. His clinical practice is at the Children’s Hospital at Montefiore, where he is the Medical Director of the Intra-abdominal Solid Tumor Program. Dr. Weiser is also an Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Genetics at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, where his translational research laboratory is focused on discovery of new cures for highly aggressive childhood cancers, blood-based liquid biopsies for solid tumors, and novel approaches to prevent toxicity associated with treatment.

Dr. Weiser participates in the efforts of several professional organizations including the Children’s Oncology Group, American Association for Cancer Research, and the American Society of Clinical Oncology. He has received numerous awards including the Brigid Leventhal Special Merit Award from ASCO and the Conquer Cancer Foundation, and a prestigious K12 from the National Cancer Institute for the training of the next generation of physician-scientists in pediatric cancer.

Dr. Weiser is actively involved in teaching and mentorship of trainees and takes great pride in providing advanced and compassionate care to his patients and their families.

Director, Pediatric Radiation Oncology, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center

Education

MD, University of California San Francisco

Residencies

Radiation Oncology – Stanford University Medical Center

Board Certifications

Radiation Oncology

Since 1998, I have been the Director of Pediatric Radiation Oncology on the MSK Kids team who cares for children and young adults with cancer.

I have extensive experience treating rare diseases in children, including neuroblastoma. Radiation therapy is an extremely powerful tool for these tumors, but young patients are especially sensitive to long-term side effects. I therefore approach each patient as a unique individual, carefully designing a highly customized radiation therapy plan to maximize the benefits of treatment while minimizing side effects. I am a leader in the use of targeted approaches such as proton therapy, intensity-modulated radiation therapy, image-guided radiation therapy, and intra-operative radiation therapy for pediatric cancers.

We are very mindful of patients’ long-term quality of life and seek to maintain the highest possible survival rates while minimizing the risk of potential long-term treatment complications. I am involved with research on the late effects of radiation therapy through my collaboration with the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study. I currently have an open study at MSK testing reduced dose radiotherapy for the primary site in high-risk neuroblastoma.

I find it very rewarding to work with a team that couples extraordinary experience with compassion to care for patients with cancer. I am optimistic that our ongoing research will lead to higher cure rates as well as improved long-term quality of life for our patients.

Toni works professionally as a Demand Generation Marketing Manager at Fitbit Health Solutions (now part of Google). She is inspired in both her personal and professional life by Fitbit’s mission to help everyone in the world become healthier.

In May of 2021, Toni’s 2-year-old niece, Madeline, was diagnosed with late stage neuroblastoma. After a year-long fight, Madeline beat cancer, but ultimately lost her battle due to complications from treatment. Toni hopes to honor her niece’s memory by helping others who are impacted by neuroblastoma. Toni is deeply committed to helping Band of Parents fulfill their mission to fund innovative research and clinical trials for neuroblastoma, with the goal of increasing the survival rate for this childhood cancer, and one day eradicating it completely.

Jenny Finke is a graduate of Chico State University with a Bachelor of Arts in Public Speaking. Jenny went on to work in the culinary field, where her passion lies. For the last seven years Jenny has been a stay-at-home mom of three young children alongside her sister Allie. Allie’s youngest child, Hank, was diagnosed with stage 4 neuroblastoma in March 2020. After no longer being qualified for treatment at his home hospital, Hank was referred to MSK. Since then, Jenny has dedicated her time to finding ways to help support families and children affected by neuroblastoma as well as funding research. During the Band of Parents’ Cure Kids’ Cancer Challenge Jenny and her team raised over $12,000. Jenny hopes to keep spreading awareness and help to increase funding to find a cure for neuroblastoma.

Originally from California, Dianne now lives in New York City and works professionally in Public Relations. In April 2023, her youngest nephew, Hank, was diagnosed with Stage IV Neuroblastoma. After over a year and a half of treatment at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford, Hank will continue his battle at MSKCC. Dianne is determined to advocate for more funding for Neuroblastoma and pediatric cancer, aiming for Hank to become a Band of Parents Warrior. Having lost her best friend to AML in middle school, and now facing pediatric cancer with her nephew, Dianne is committed to spreading awareness and sharing every Warrior’s story to promote hyper-awareness.

Nick Lynch is a senior student at the University of California Davis studying animal science. After graduation, Nick hopes to attend veterinary school and pursue a career in veterinary medicine.

In 2006, Nick was diagnosed with stage four neuroblastoma and given a grim prognosis. Living in California at the time, Nick began treatment at Sutter hospital in Sacramento before quickly transferring care to Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Thanks to the amazing team at MSKCC, Nick has now been NED since August of 2006 and off treatment since October of 2007. In his free time, Nick enjoys fishing the lakes and rivers where he lives and hiking.

Christopher grew up in a small town in Connecticut and started working at a young age at his family’s business which instilled a strong a strong work ethic in him. In the past few years, he has branched out of the family business to make a name for himself. Growing up, Christopher played sports but hockey has always been his passion. He plays in hockey leagues throughout the tri-state areas now and participates in many charity events. He became involved with the Band of Parents after participating in many fundraisers throughout his younger years. One fundraiser that stuck with him was to help a local family whose son was diagnosed with neuroblastoma. Christopher sold paper hearts to help raise money for the family and since then he’s been hooked. Christopher feels like the Band of Parents community is one big family – there to support each other and work together to battle this disease.

Amit is a Warrior of the Band! He was diagnosed with stage IV Neuroblastoma when he was almost 3 and it nearly took his life. His odds were not great, but he is one of those fortunate enough to say they’ve beat this terrible pediatric cancer. After brain surgery to remove the tumor around his optic nerves, chemo, radiation and the super power of 3F8, Amit successfully defeated Neuroblastoma.

Amit has been in remission for over 18 years, but his fight with Neuroblastoma left him legally blind. Even so, he refuses to let that stop him from living life to the fullest.

As a high school Senior in 2016, Amit won the Student of the Year for Individuals with Disabilities Award. He is an avid baseball fan and has been Home Run Champion at the Miracle League of Arizona multiple times. Amit also has skills on the court: in 2017, he led his Arizona Special Olympics basketball team to a 3rd place finish in the district tournament (winning the Bobcat of the Year “best player” award) and this year, in 2020, he helped his Special Olympics basketball team in Michigan qualify for the State Championship Tournament.

Amit is currently a 3rd year Pre-Business major at the University of Michigan—Dearborn.

Neuroblastoma is a devastating disease and Amit wants to be on the front line with the army that defeats it. It caused his family a lot of heartache and suffering and Amit is determined to do everything he can to prevent any other family from going through the same. Along with Band of Parents, Amit is committed to winning our war of hope to bring an end to Neuroblastoma.

Sydney Spinner is a Partner at the firm Kestenbaum & Spinner, PLLC, located in Bayside, Queens. She specializes in Trusts & Estates, Guardianships, and Wage & Hour Defense. She is a lifelong Queens resident who received her B.A. from CUNY Queens College and her J.D. from Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra University. She is admitted to practice in the State of New York, the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York, the U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, and the Supreme Court of the United States. She is on the Board of Managers and Co-Chair of the Young Lawyers Committee of the Queens County Bar Association. She is a State Delegate for the Queens County Women’s Bar Association. She also sits on the Junior Board of Dancing Dreams. Sydney joined the Young Professionals Board after becoming highly involved with Band of Parents during the coronavirus pandemic. She hopes to educate others and fundraise to help find a cure for neuroblastoma.

Louis Unger was born in Germany and is a childhood cancer survivor of Neuroblastoma and of a brain tumor relapse. He graduated from Endicott College in May of 2020 and has gone on to pursue jobs in the field of criminal justice. Louis’s hobbies include golfing, fishing, playing the bass guitar and is a happy and healthy young man. Louis’s mission is to help raise money and support other families who have had similar experiences to him, as well as to share his tale of hope and give strength to those who need it. His story is an example of the good that can happen when people work together for a noble goal.

Lee Xu is a medical physicist at the New York Proton Center, where he specializes in treatment planning and quality assurance. Lee received a B.A. in chemistry from New York University and an M.S. in medical physics from Columbia University prior to completing his clinical physics training at the University of Pennsylvania. In his free time, Lee likes to paint and collect unique artworks from local artists. Lee is excited to join Band of Parents and spread awareness of neuroblastoma and neuroblastoma research. He also hopes to continue improving care for pediatric patients undergoing proton therapy.