A valued member of Mount Sinai’s faculty for more than 30 years, Waxman currently holds a variety of positions, including, Distinguished Service Professor of Medicine, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, Honorary Professor and Co-Director of the Center of Differentiation Therapy at Shanghai Jiao Tong Medical University. He is the Founder and CEO of the Samuel Waxman Cancer Research Foundation.

Waxman has authored more than 300 scientific papers and was among the first to study differentiation as a cancer therapy. He has also written chapters in textbooks on hematology, chemotherapy and nutrition, a series of books entitled Differentiation Therapy, and another called The Leukemia Cell. Waxman helped found the International Conference on the Differentiation Therapy of Cancer, which brings together researchers from around the globe every two years.

Waxman is an authority on nutritional factors that are involved in normal DNA synthesis such as vitamins B12, folic acid and vitamin A. He discovered proteins that are required for the normal use of these vitamins and methods to measure and define their deficiencies. He designed chemotherapeutic agents for the purpose of blocking normal function of these vitamins as anti cancer treatments. His work on understanding abnormal differentiation of blood cells resulting in leukemia has formed the basis of differentiation therapy so successfully used in curing acute promyelocytic leukemia. He continues to apply these concepts to other forms of leukemia and cancer in general.

His research program is devoted to expanding differentiation therapy to other forms of cancer. We continue to uncover new compounds that alone or in combination correct abnormal gene function by targeting regulatory proteins that cause abnormal differentiation resulting in cancer. Specifically, he and his lab are uncovering ways to extend the clinical use of arsenic trioxide to degrade cancer producing proteins that block differentiation. They are able to produce an anti-tumor effect associated with inducing differentiation with a decoy compound that blocks a protein known to shut down important gene information which leads to breast cancer. This decoy molecule has the possibility of becoming a drug that will be useful in the treatment and perhaps prevention of breast cancer.

Distinguished Service Professor and Professor of Medicine Division of Hematology/Oncology, Department of Medicine Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai  Honorary Professor, Shanghai Jiao Tong University

SCIENCE LEADERSHIP

Jonathan D. Licht, M.D.

Chief Science Advisor

Director of the University of Florida Health Cancer Center
The Marshall E. Rinker, Sr. Foundation and David B. and Leighan R. Rinker Chair

Prior to joining the University of Florida Health Cancer Center as director, Dr. Licht was the Johanna Dobe Professor of Medicine and Chief of the Division of Hematology/Oncology at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. Licht's laboratory studies aberrant gene regulation repression as a cause of hematologic malignancy, including acute promyelocytic leukemia, multiple myeloma and myeloproliferative neoplasms, and developing small molecules and peptides strategies to revert abnormal gene regulation and treat disease.

Licht has held a Leukemia Society Scholar award and Buroughs Wellcome Clinical Scientist Award in Translational Research. He is currently the Principal Investigator of a Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Specialized Center of Research Excellence grant, studying epigenetic mechanisms in hematological malignancy. He is a Senior Editor of Clinical Cancer Research and serves on the editorial board of Oncogene, Cancer Biology and Therapy and Clinical Epigenetics.

Licht was a Counselor of the American Society for Clinical Investigation and is a member of the Association of American Physicians. He currently serves on the National Cancer Institute Board of Scientific Counselors.

Julio Aguirre-Ghiso, Ph.D.

Chief Mission Advisor

Professor, Department of Cell Biology
Professor, Department of Oncology (Medical Oncology)
Professor, Department of Medicine (Oncology & Hematology)
Rose C. Falkenstein Chair in Cancer Research

Director, Institute for Cancer Dormancy and Tumor Microenvironment

Julio A. Aguirre-Ghiso, PhD is the Rose C. Falkenstein Chair in Cancer Research, Professor of Cell Biology and Medicine and Founding Director of the Cancer Dormancy & Tumor Microenvironment Institute at the Montefiore Einstein Comprehensive Cancer Center (MECCC) in New York City, where he also co-directs the Gruss-Lipper Biophotonics Center and the Tumor Microenvironment and Metastasis Program at the MECCC.

Dr. Aguirre-Ghiso received his PhD from the University of Buenos Aires, Argentina in 1997 and was a Charles H. Revson post-doctoral Fellow at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (ISMMS) until 2003. He became an Assistant Professor at SUNY-Albany the same year and since 2008 he was at ISMMS where he grew through the ranks becoming Professor in 2014 and Endowed Mount Sinai Chair of Cancer Biology in 2020. His research team led a paradigm shift, revealing novel cancer biology that diverges from the notion that cancer is perpetually proliferating. His team discovered that reciprocal crosstalk between disseminated tumor cells and the microenvironment regulates the inter-conversion between dormancy and metastasis initiation. His lab also provided a mechanistic understanding of the process of early dissemination and revealed how it contributes to dormancy and metastatic progression and how stress adaptive pathways allow cancer cells to persist while quiescent.

His work has been published in renowned journals and has been highly cited. He has served and actively advises different scientific and industry entities and scientific journals via advisory board or scientific council membership such as the NIH study sections where he was elected as a permanent member, the Pershing Square Sohn Research Alliance, Cancer Cell , the French National Cancer Institute and the Metastasis Research Society, among others. In 2019 he founded a new company, HiberCell that has enabled clinical approaches that seek to target stress signaling pathways and kill proliferative or dormant cancer cells and/or induce cancer cell dormancy. He served as President Elect and then President of the Metastasis Research Society from 2018-2022 and has served at several leadership levels at AACR among other organizations.

FOUNDATION STAFF

William T. Sullivan

Executive Director

William T. Sullivan is executive director of Samuel Waxman Cancer Research Foundation, an international not-for-profit organization whose mission is to eradicate cancer by funding collaborative cross-institutional research to identify and correct abnormal gene functions that cause cancer.

Mr. Sullivan directs the long-term strategy of the organization and is involved in setting the vision with the board of directors and staff. He is in the process of leading an institutional transition, which includes planning its first-ever comprehensive fundraising and development program, transitioning senior staff, and enhancing its board of directors.

Before joining the Samuel Waxman Cancer Research Foundation, Mr. Sullivan served as the director of campaign fundraising for New York City Mayoral Candidate Paul J. Massey, Jr. He created and established a fundraising platform for the candidate from the ground up. With no political fundraising experience, he hired a novice staff and recruited a volunteer committee of over 300 fundraising volunteers that raised more than $5 million in (17) months (the highest amount raised by any mayoral candidate in the history of New York City other than Michael Bloomberg who self-funded his campaign).

Mr. Sullivan was also the president and chief executive officer of Ronald McDonald House New York. During his ten-year tenure, the annual operating budget tripled to $20 million with net assets rising from $27 million to $112 million. In addition, he grew the endowment to an all-time high of $84 million, personally secured significant gifts from individuals, foundations, and corporations as well as designed and implemented multi-faceted fundraising campaigns that have dramatically grown revenue.

Before joining Ronald McDonald House New York, Mr. Sullivan served as the chief operating officer of the Greater New York Councils of the Boy Scouts of America in a career that spanned 23 years. During his tenure, Mr. Sullivan was in charge of the finance division, and also oversaw the membership of more than 120,000 youths throughout the five boroughs of New York City. His responsibilities included overseeing all fundraising efforts for the Boy Scouts of Greater New York in support of a $16 million budget. A highlight of his time with Boy Scouts of America included the completion of a $7 million capital campaign that built Cub World in Alpine, New Jersey.

Mr. Sullivan is a native of Boston, and currently resides in Manhattan and East Hampton, New York.

Wylie G. Tené

Director of Marketing and Communications

Wylie Tene is the director of marketing and communications at the Samuel Waxman Cancer Research Foundation (SWCRF). In this role, he oversees all of the Foundation's media relations, website content, written collateral materials such as annual reports, newsletters, brochures, e-blasts, and advertisements, presentations, social media, and branding.

Wylie has more than 20 years of experience working in non-profit communications. Prior to joining SWCRF, he was Director of Public Affairs for the American Psychoanalytic Association (APsaA) for five years where he was responsible for all of the organization's communications, marketing, and internal member communications. Before APsaA, he was the public relations manager for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. 

Wylie earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communication Studies from California State University at Northridge. 

Suzanna C. Houston

Director of Special Projects

Suzanna Houston is director of special projects at the Samuel Waxman Cancer Research Foundation (SWCRF). In this role, she oversees a range of functions including community outreach, operations and HR, information technology, fundraising programs, stakeholder engagement as well as providing administrative support to the executive director. She also directs the SWCRF endurance sports fundraising initiatives including the Foundation’s charity teams for the TD Five Boro Bike Tour and TCS New York City Marathon.

Before joining the SWCRF, Suzanna was special projects and community services director at the Ronald McDonald House and prior to that was the assistant to the president and director of external affairs. In these roles, Suzanna served as a key thought partner and advisor to the president and CEO and collaborated with the executive team and board of directors. She also led major-gift initiatives and cultivated relationships with various local, state and federal agencies in support of the work of the Ronald McDonald House. In sum, she spent more than 27 years at the Ronald McDonald House and held several positions.

Prior to joining the Ronald McDonald House, Suzanna was the major grants writer at the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation’s world headquarters.

Suzanna earned a Master of Science in Leadership and Business Ethics and a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism with a concentration in Public Relations from Duquesne University. She is also a licensed Notary Public in New York State. Suzanna is a member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) and Women in Development (WiD).

Gregory Fabijanczuk, CPA

Finance Director

Gregory Fabijanczuk CPA is the director of finance at Samuel Waxman Cancer Research Foundation. In this role Greg oversees and performs a variety of functions such as; assisting in the preparation of the yearly budget, preparation of cash deposits and disbursements as needed, administer all aspects of the grant process, work with the external auditors in completing year-end audit and 990 tax return, develop and internal controls and narratives and develop and document internal controls.

Gregory has over 35 years’ experience in accounting, 25 years of experience as an auditor for CPA firms with a concentration of auditing nonprofits working for two of the Big 4 auditing firms and large national accounting firms. He also, has over 10 years of experience as a CFO for two Economic Development nonprofit organizations. He earned his Bachelor of Science degree from Montclair State University in Montclair New Jersey.  Gregory is a Certified Public Accountant licensed in the State of New Jersey, he is a member of the New Jersey State Society of CPA’s and the American Institute of CPA’s.

Karen Kirk

Director of Special Events

Karen Kirk joined the organization in 2022. Mrs. Kirk was previously employed by Hospital for Special Surgery’s as the Education Institute’s, Director of Development responsible for the Institute’s external funding including, Alumni Donors, Exhibit fees, Foundation & Corporate Grants, Major Gift Sponsorships, and the Institute’s Financial Reporting. Prior to HSS, Mrs. Kirk served as Assistant Director of Development and Director of Special Events at Ronald McDonald House New York. Ms. Kirk began her career with the Boy Scouts of America.

Erica Linden-Fineberg

Development Coordinator

Erica Linden-Fineberg is a development coordinator at the Samuel Waxman Cancer Research Foundation (SCWRF) serving in a volunteer capacity. In this role, Erica supports the Foundation’s strategic fundraising initiatives.

Erica ran Fineberg Publicity, a public relations firm for 35 years before retiring in 2013. While leading her firm, Erica provided visibility and marketing functions for women’s and men's apparel and accessory companies. Included in the mix were companies such as Jockey International, Vanity Fair, Haggar, Botany 500, New Man/New Woman, Tourneau, Wempe, Pratesi, Montenapoleone, and others.

Prior to opening the doors to Fineberg Publicity, Inc., Erica was an editor at Vogue, Butterick Patterns, and Good Housekeeping.

Currently, Erica serves on the Advisory Board of The High School of Fashion Industries; volunteers at the Women's Auxiliary of Temple Emanuel; and serves as a member of the Chairman's Council at the Samuel Waxman Cancer Research Foundation.