HELP MARK FIGHT FOUNDATION
Help Mark Fight Leukemia Foundation, Inc., is a 501(c)(3) Foundation

Foundation Mission:

Create public awareness of, and significant funding for medical research into the causes, early detection, and treatment of complicated Adult Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (Adult ALL), with a view to dramatically increase the cure rates among its victims; and to provide coping support information and resources for its victims and their families.

Mission Objectives:

1.Through the mission and work of the Foundation, keep Mark’s memory and fight with adult ALL alive.

2.Create awareness of the successes, and provide financial support for the work of the Harvard Dana Farber Institute/Dr. Julie Asch Team and other similar adult ALL cancer research programs.

3.Raise substantial funds through grants, tax exempt donations and other sources for (a) expanded medical research directed to accomplish the Foundation’s mission, (b) financial support for Adult ALL victim support organizations, (c) development, sponsorship and funding of an adult ALL awareness, early detection and complications avoidance campaign program.

4.Establish cooperative links and partnerships with similarly mandated
organizations and foundations (e.g., ACS, NCI, Lance Armstrong’s cancer foundation, various Diabetes and heart foundations, etc.).

5.Engage Mark’s Oncology team headed by Dr. Julie Asch, M.D., and other professionals as advisors, directors, or members of the foundation’s medical research board to help formulate and direct the application of resources to appropriate research program.

6.Involve other professionals to formulate a funding development strategy, and to serve as advisors/directors/trustees, etc, of the Foundation.

7.Document Mark’s illness, his treatment, responses to treatment, complicating factors, such as Age, Epilepsy, Diabetes, High Blood Pressure, Philadelphia Chromosome, etc., in an effort to help establish research focuses and priorities.

8.Determine other research institutions/foundations with which to appropriately link, team and/or associate.

9.Advance the funding efforts already under way, such as the Help Mark Fight Foundation Benefit Golf Tournament in Las Vegas, NV, scheduled for October. 20, 2008.

Board Members:

John T. Benson, J.D. (64) Director, Chairman, President.
John received his Bachelor’s degree, Brigham Young University, 1968; Law degree, Duke University, 1971. He is a member of the Utah State Bar. His professional experience includes: Private law practice; General Counsel, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of a Utah-based national 190 retail unit, publicly traded retail firm; Co-founded and operated Institute of Business Management, Co., a Utah based business management and consulting firm, consulting clients in the agri-business, mining, franchising and food industries; Consulted full-time with a British based foundation, for which he launched and supervised the Foundation’s North American business ventures; Consulted with a variety of business and educational entities regarding strategic planning, execution and operations; directed the transfer, spin-out and commercialization of patented bio-technologies from a Utah university; launched and operated a chain of retail clothing stores and an outerwear manufacturing company; appointed to the Research Committee of the State of Utah Partnership For Business And Economic Development Inc., He is currently involved in real estate business in Southern Utah. John is an active member of the LDS Church, having served as a young full-time missionary to England, twice a bishop, stake president, and other voluntary positions.

Robert T. Benson, M.D. (39), Director, Vice President Medical Research.
Robert is a board certified Emergency Physician. He is also the Chief of the Emergency Department at the Dixie Regional Medical Center. He received his medical degree from Georgetown University School of Medicine and completed his Emergency Medical residency at Yale University. He is involved in community outreach and quality improvement in Healthcare. He is married with six children and he participates/serves in civic and ecclesiastical duties.

Brett V. Benson, PhD. (36), Director, Vice President Corporate Development.
Brett is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at Vanderbilt University. He received his Ph.D. in political science and M.A. in economics at Duke University in 2006. He conducts research on topics related to international politics and political economy such as strategic interstate agreement-making, trade and interdependence, and East Asian political relations. He has written about the impact of the growing trade and investment flows between China and Taiwan on their political and security relationship, the role of Taiwan's democracy and public opinion in influencing the foreign policies of China and the US, and the US commitment to defend Taiwan.

Joseph P. Benson, J.D. (31), Director, Vice President Finance.
Joseph is an attorney in the San Diego office of Fish & Richardson P.C. Joseph's practice emphasizes patent litigation, intellectual property litigation, and patent prosecution. He is admitted to the bar in California and is registered to practice before the United States Patent and Trademark Office. He also received a bachelors of Arts in Asian Studies from Brigham Young University in 2002. He was a Fulbright Scholar at the Central University for Nationalities in Beijing, China (2002-2003). Joseph also received a B.S. in Physics from Utah State University in 2004 and received his Juris Doctorate from J. Reuben Clark Law School (Brigham Young University) in 2007. Joseph is proficient in Mandarin Chinese and Mongolian. He is active in his church where he has served as a first counselor in a bishopric, an Elder's Quorum President, and was a missionary in Mongolia (1996-1998).

Key Personnel:

Julie Asch, M.D., Chief Medical Advisor.
Dr. Julie Asch earned her medical degree from Rutgers University Medical School in New Brunswick, NJ. She served as a pediatric intern, resident and chief resident at the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School (University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey) in New Brunswick, NJ and completed fellowship training at both Mount Sinai Hospital, New York City, NY and the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, UT. Dr. Asch served as director of the Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Stem Cell Laboratory, director of the Pediatric Hematology and Oncology clinic at the Cancer Institute of New Jersey, director of the Apheresis Program for the Bone Marrow Transplant Program at the University of Utah and Medical director of Utah Blood and Marrow Transplant Total Quality Management. She is has been an assistant professor at the UM.D.NJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Brunswick, MJ and at the University of Utah. Dr. Asch is a member of the American Association of Blood Banks, the American Society of Hematology, the Children’s Oncology Group and the American Academy of Pediatrics. In her current position as the Associate Director of the Intermountain Blood and Marrow Transplant/Leukemia Program, one of her special interests is in improving the outcome for adults with acute lymphoblastic leukemia using an aggressive pediatric type treatment protocol. She is the principle investigator at LDS Hospital of the multicenter Adult ALL trial through the Dana Farber Cancer Institute Consortium.

Christine Marie Olds, Executive Director of Corporate Development and Events.
Christine is a Fundraiser, Public Relations professional and two time cancer survivor residing in Las Vegas, NV. A New York native, she left a successful career 8-year career as a bank officer (controllers) in 1998 and decided her life's work should be dedicated to serving others. She worked with New York states largest organization dedicated to improving the lives of people with developmental disabilities 1998-2002 as Events Director. In 1999, she was diagnosed with Hodgkins Lymphoma and treated successfully over a two year period with high dose (and many!) rounds of chemotherapy and radiation. In late 2002, she relocated to Las Vegas, NV leaving a job she loved to join parents she loved more. Between 2003-2007 she served as: Public Information Officer and Director of Financial Development for the American Red Cross including leading President George W. Bush (and then) Red Cross President Marty Evans on a 2004 tour of hurricane damage in Vero Beach, FL. The team received Honorable Mention from Public Relations Weekly in 2005 for their work pre and post Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf Coast; she spent much of the years 2004-2006 deployed to disaster sites all over the country. Christine works with many organizations in Las Vegas and is passionate about: cancer research/cures; children and adults with developmental disabilities and children in crisis (particularly those in Foster Care). She's grateful to God and her family for her incredible life; her doctors at Sloan Kettering Memorial, NYC and Nevada Cancer Institute (who covered a blip on the radar in 06-07) for saving her. In December 2006 after receiving traumatic neck and back injuries in a car accident in which she was passenger, Christine first met and became lifelong friends with Mark Benson. They were planning the Help Mark Fight Benefit Golf Tournament together: Mark from his hospital bed in Salt Lake City and Christine on the ground in Vegas; she is humbled that his family has asked her to assist further and plans to continue his fight forever!