NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The leveraged finance community will gather for the fifth annual Leveraged Finance Fights Melanoma (LFFM) benefit and cocktail party with the goal of raising funds to support the Melanoma Research Alliance (MRA), the world’s largest private funder of melanoma research. Melanoma is the deadliest form of skin cancer, and MRA is dedicated to fighting, treating, and curing melanoma.
The event will be hosted by Brendan Dillon of UBS; Lee Grinberg of Elliott Management; George Mueller and Cade Thompson of KKR; Jeff Rowbottom of PSP Investments; and Trevor Watt of Hellman & Friedman.
The event will be held from 6:00-9:00pm on Tuesday, May 24 at the Summer Garden at Rockefeller Plaza.
Event attendees will include leaders from throughout the industry, and dealmakers from banks, investment firms, law firms, issuers and sponsors, with over 1,000 expected to attend.
Since the inaugural event in 2012, the leveraged finance community has raised over $5 million to support MRA’s global research programs, working toward eliminating suffering and death from melanoma. Tickets are $300 and may be purchased by visiting www.curemelanoma.org/LFFM.
The event seeks to raise funds to advance research and educate attendees on the dangers of melanoma and the importance of sun safety and early detection. If melanoma is found early—before it has spread beyond the skin—it is almost always treatable. Past events have led to attendees scheduling skin checks and even to the discovery and treatment of several early-stage melanomas.
Recent landmark advances in melanoma treatments have provided new options for patients, and melanoma stands as the case study for state-of-the-art cancer drug development, precision medicine and immunotherapy. The data that melanoma scientists are generating is also benefiting cancer researchers in many fields, including those studying bladder, brain, breast, colon, kidney, leukemia, lymphoma, lung, pancreatic, and prostate cancer.
Nearly 80,000 Americans will be diagnosed with melanoma in 2016—roughly one person every eight minutes, and incidence of the disease continues to rise. The skin disease is the fifth most common cancer diagnosed in the United States. While the treatment outlook for the disease has improved in recent years, newly approved therapies will not be the cure for most patients, so continuing to support research is critical.
About The Melanoma Research Alliance (MRA)
MRA is a public charity formed in 2007 under the auspices of the Milken Institute, with the generous founding support of Debra and Leon Black. MRA to date has dedicated more than $68 million to research seeking to better prevent, diagnose, and treat melanoma. Due to the ongoing support of its founders, 100% of every dollar MRA raises goes to support its melanoma research program. The organization is poised to build on recent momentum in the field, accelerating the pace of scientific discovery and translation in order to eliminate suffering and death due to melanoma. MRA’s ability to fund wide-ranging research in melanoma is amplified by unique multi-faceted collaborations with individuals, private foundations and corporations.
For more information on MRA, visit www.CureMelanoma.org.
