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About the Foundation
The Max Cure Foundation | Meet Max | Board of Directors | Executive Committees | The Max Cure Fund | IRS Form 990  |  The Journey CD

 

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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