The powerful memories of a young man lost far too early to cancer have brought hundreds of people together — and raised more than $3 million for lymphoma research at City of Hope.
The Nesvig family and friends recently united for the annual City of Hope Golf Classic benefiting the Tim Nesvig Lymphoma Fellowship and Research Fund at the Bel-Air Bay Club and Sherwood Country Club in Los Angeles. About 300 dinner guests and 150 golfers raised more than $713,000 for City of Hope at the late-July event. Over the past three years, the event alone has raised $2.3 million, a resounding success among charity golf tournaments.
Coupled with continued fundraising throughout the year, the tournament and fellowship fund have raised a combined $3.3 million for lymphoma research.
The event honors the memory of Tim Nesvig, son of FOX Broadcasting Sales President Jon Nesvig, who was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma at age 28. Tim Nesvig lived his life with quiet strength, never letting the cancer or treatment bring him down or interfere with his plans for the future. He lost his battle with cancer in February 2005.
Under the direction of Stephen J. Forman, M.D., the Francis and Kathleen McNamara Distinguished Chair in Hematology and Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation at City of Hope, friends and family members established the Tim Nesvig Lymphoma Fellowship and Research Fund to further research the causes of lymphoma with the hope of developing improved treatments and ultimately a cure for patients with lymphoma.
This year’s recipient of the Tim Nesvig Lymphoma Fellowship, Mark Kirschbaum, M.D., focuses his efforts on preclinical and clinical studies using molecular- and epigenetic-based therapies for hematologic malignancies. Kirschbaum directs new drug development for City of Hope’s Division of Hematology & Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation. He also serves as hematologic malignancies coordinator for the California Cancer Consortium, a major component of City of Hope’s federally funded grant for phase I and II clinical trials through the National Institutes of Health Cancer Therapy Evaluation Program (CTEP). CTEP sponsors clinical trials of brand-new, emerging cancer treatments and emphasizes translational research.
Past recipients have included Leslie Popplewell, M.D., and Aung Naing, M.D.
Nearly 63,200 people in the United States will be diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma this year, according to the American Cancer Society; nearly 406,000 Americans are currently living with the disease.
