David Plotkin
- Max's Dad
David Plotkin grew up in New Jersey. In
high school, David was an accomplished All-State athlete
in football and basketball. David graduated from Syracuse
University in 1994 with a Bachelors Degree and then
pursued a successful career on Wall Street as a hedge
fund trader. He married his college sweetheart,
Annemarie, and together, had two beautiful boys, Maxwell
and his younger brother, Alexander, and the new addition
to the family, sister Ella, born in May 2009.
David Plotkin, a Wall Street securities
trader in Manhattan, is also now committed to a different path—to making a
difference while touching others faced with adversity.
He is determined to provide for them the hope and
strength they need to persevere. He is living proof that
anything is possible and obstacles can be overcome if
one believes in himself and his purpose.
Annemarie Plotkin - Max's Mom
Annemarie Plotkin graduated from Rutgers University in
1992 with a Bachelors Degree in Visual Arts. After
graduating she worked for her families granite business
for seven years. In 1999, she married David Plotkin and
moved to New York City and became a Marketing Associate
at Salomon Smith Barney, Inc. In 2005, she became
Administrative Manager for a hedge fund, Saranac Capital
Management. While working in the financial district,
Annemarie had two boys, Maxwell and Alexander. In 2006,
a year after she had her second son, she decided to stay
at home with her children. In 2009, daughter Ella was
born.
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Richard Plotkin
- Max's Grandpa & Co-Founder
Richard Plotkin is Max' paternal grandfather and one of
the founders of The Max Cure Foundation, Inc. Richard
graduated in 1966 from University of Pennsylvania,
Wharton School, with a BS in Economics. Thereafter, in
1969, he received a Juris Doctorate Degree from
Georgetown Law Center. He became a member of the New
Jersey Bar that same year.
Following a one-year judicial clerkship, Richard
commenced employment with the predecessor to Day Pitney
LLP, a regional law firm with several offices from
Boston to Washington, DC, including in New York City and
New Jersey. In 1975 Richard became a partner at that law
firm, specializing during his entire tenure in
commercial litigation.
On December 31, 2008, Richard
retired from the firm as a partner to, among other
things, devote more time to the work of the Foundation,
remaining with the firm as Special Counsel. Richard's
focus changed from assisting clients in achieving
economic benefits in the courtroom to joining the fight
against pediatric cancers such as that which afflicted
Max and which could potentially, and do, afflict an
untold number of children worldwide.
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Matthew Plotkin
- Max's Uncle
Matthew Plotkin graduated from University of Maryland in
the spring of 1998 with a Bachelors Degree in Business.
After taking a year to travel through Asia, Australia
and Colorado, Matthew came back to the east coast and
settled down in New York City.
In the spring of 2002, Matthew got a trading position
with Karsch Capital Management, a multi- billion-dollar
hedge fund based in Manhattan. Matthew still resides at
the firm as a Senior Trader, managing the consumer,
energy and international portfolios.
In the summer of 2005, Matthew met Amanda Bayer on a
blind date, and 2.5yrs later they were married. They
recently moved to Short Hills, NJ with their 1.5yr old
son Chase and are expecting their 2nd child in February
2010.
Matthew is Max’s Uncle and lived in the same building as
Max while he underwent his treatments. Seeing first hand
on what this disease is capable of, Matthew and his
family are proud to be part of the fight that will
eventually lead to a cure.
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Paul Carrozza
Paul and his wife Shiela, founded RunTex in 1988 and
have since built their business into one of the Nation's
leading companies devoted to running and endurance
sports. An accomplished All-American athlete and a
seasoned coach, Paul is committed to developing quality
programs and events that contribute to the economic
growth in the community and help increase the quality of
life in the greater Austin area. RunTex.com’s online
community receives some 3.8 million hits per month and
is a testament to Paul’s passion for providing access
for healthy living to the entire community and explains
why Runner’s World voted RunTex the number one Running
Store in the Country. RunTex was awarded the honor of
Outstanding Philanthropic Corporation of the Year in
2000 and continues to look for ways to contribute to the
community. Paul is co-founder and sponsor of Marathon
Kids Program, which has successfully helped over 500,000
children per year learn to enjoy running. He served two
terms on the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and
Sports during the George W. Bush Administratin, is the
Co-Chair for the Governor's Advisory Council on Physical
Activity, the Co-Founder and Chair of the Austin Mayor’s
Fitness Council, and currently serves on the EMS Board,
Texas Medical Board District Review Committee, Shoes For
Austin, and Mayor’s Community Cabinet.
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Jonathan Daniel
Jonathan Daniel is the principal and founder of Silo
Financial Corp. and affiliated companies, a direct real
estate commercial lending institution. Silo Financial
was formed in 2001 and currently services a
self-originated commercial loan portfolio on behalf of
an internal fund and a syndicated consortium of private
and institutional investors. Prior to forming Silo
Financial, Jonathan headed Commercial Loan Originations
for Mercury Capital Corporation, a New York-based direct
mortgage lending institution. Over his career, Jonathan
has originated, placed and serviced in aggregate over
$500mm of commercial mortgages. In 2010, Jonathan
testified in front of the House Financial Services
Committee regarding Alternatives for Promoting Liquidity
in the Commercial Real Estate Markets, Supporting Small
Businesses and Increasing Job Growth.
Jonathan began his career as an Analyst at Newmark &
Company Real Estate, Inc. (now Newmark Knight Frank),
one of the largest independent, full-service real estate
firms in the U.S. Jonathan’s astute financial insights
and well-rounded real estate skills have allowed him to
develop innovative deal structures for a diverse range
of commercial property owners and create long-term
relationships with mortgage brokers, attorneys and with
many real estate developers and owners. Jonathan is a
1994 graduate of Syracuse University where he earned
Bachelor of Science degree in Finance. Mr. Daniel
currently serves on the Board of Directors of The Max
Cure Foundation for Pediatric Cancer Causes and Advisory
Board of Max Cure Fund at Memorial Sloan-Kettering
Cancer Center.
Jonathan resides in CT with his wife and 2 children.
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Adam Gittlin
Adam Gittlin, Vice-President of Gittlin Companies, Inc.,
has both a BA and MBA from Syracuse University. Mr.
Gittlin has been involved in many aspects of commercial
real estate over the course of his career, including
brokerage, management and ownership, and oversees such
interests—as well as all private equity investments—on
behalf of his group’s privately held firm.
In his free time Mr. Gittlin is a novelist. In addition
to co-authoring his first non-fiction project with David
Plotkin (entitled In A Blink: One Boy’s Harrowing
Diagnosis. One Family’s Inspirational Journey.
about Max and his family’s odyssey) his second book, a
financial thriller entitled The Deal, was released May
1st, 2008. He is currently hard at work on the still
un-titled sequel due for release in the fall of 2011.
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Vyto Kab
Vyto Kab is the Managing Director of Kab Partners, LLC,
which he founded in 2005. He is a strategic real estate
developer and investor with over twenty years of
experience in commercial, medical and residential real
estate development. Vyto has an extensive understanding
of the sleep diagnostic market and healthcare project
development. Presently, he is involved in medical real
estate development emphasizing large physician groups,
hospitals, and healthcare service companies.
Vyto also serves as the Board Chairman and Medical
Consultant for AlliedSleep, LLC. This entity is a
healthcare management services group engaged in the
management of capital equipment, web-based platforms,
and marketing programs for hospital partners. Presently,
it manages Atlantic Health System’s Sleep Centers in
Northern new Jersey.
Currently, Vyto is involved in Regent Real Estate
Properties as Managing Principal for the healthcare
facilities development company. Previously, Vyto was
Chief Operating Officer and Board of Director member for
Flaga Group, Reykjavik, Iceland, managing over 300
employees for the sleep diagnostic systems company;
Co-Managing Director and Founder for SleepTech, LLC, a
Tri-State developer of sleep diagnostics centers; and
President and Founder of SleepTech Consulting Group,
LLC, which provided expertise in sleep research,
clinical trials and sleep disorder awareness. He has
both been featured in, and published numerous sleep
disorder articles, including appearing in the New
England Journal of Medicine, USA Today, The Washington
Post, and The New York Times.
Vyto attended the Pennsylvania State University. He
played football at Penn State and in the National
Football League with the Eagles, Giants, and Lions from
1982-1989. He is a member of the National Football
League Players Association. Vyto is a Board of Trustees
member for Archdiocese of Newark, Catholic Charities,
National Sleep Foundation, Peconic Baykeeper, Quogue,
NY, and Smoke Rise Community.
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Elliot S. Kerven, MD
Dr. Kerven attended George Washington University for
undergraduate school, and is a Mt Sinai trained
Anesthesiologist in private practice with Summit
Anesthesia Associates, practicing at Mountainside
Hospital in Montclair, NJ and Overlook Hospital in
Summit, NJ. Dr. Kerven has extensive experience in
cancer related surgery and a fierce commitment to
children and childhood cancers. He gladly accepted this
board membership as a chance to be a part of something
truly special.
Dr. Kerven lives in Livingston NJ with his wife, Geralyn
and their 3 children, Alexis, Mitchell, and Samantha. We
are proud to have the Kerven family on board with the
Max Cure Foundation.
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Haleigh Raff
Haleigh Raff currently serves as the president of Raff
Media, a Celebrity booking agency in New York City. Her
clients include The Martha Stewart Show and CNN’s Piers
Morgan Tonight.
Previously, she held the position of Talent Executive
for NBC’s Late Night with Conan O’Brien where she booked
human interest and celebrity guests. She was a producer
for ABC’s The View where she earned a 2003 Daytime Emmy
for ‘Outstanding Talk Show’. She focused primarily on
celebrity, fashion, beauty and medical segments while at
The View.
Ms. Raff produced and booked several highly rated
segments for The View and The Martha Stewart Show, which
have earned her a total of six Emmy nominations. She has
served as a producer for ABC’s Live with Regis and
Kathie Lee and before that held a position as a
Researcher at Late Night with Conan O’Brien.
Haleigh also does media training where she media trains
doctors, beauty experts, designers and authors who are
interested in appearing on television and in
publications. She uses her ‘insider’ knowledge and
tested techniques to help people become more confident
and ‘wanted’ guests on the Nation’s top daytime shows
and publications.
Haleigh resides in NYC with her husband Glenn, a Senior
Director at Besen & Associates Inc, an investment real
estate brokerage firm.
They have two children Parker, age 5 and Lainey, age 3.
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