These are the ingredients that make up raiseRED, the University of Louisville’s largest student-run philanthropy that has raised over $4.1 million for pediatric cancer and blood disorders research and patient support since 2013.

Celebrating its 10^th anniversary this year, raiseRED will be held Friday-Saturday, Feb. 24-25, at the Swain Student Activities Center Ballroom.

raiseRED is a dance marathon that benefits UofL’s Division of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology and the Norton Children’s Cancer Institute outpatient clinic. Participants raise a minimum of $200 per person to participate, with many raising even more.

The event kicks off at 6 p.m., Friday, Feb. 24, and culminates with the big reveal of total dollars raised at the Community Celebration from 10:30 a.m.-noon, Saturday, Feb. 25.

In between, students will kick up their heels. To keep up their spirits – and help keep their eyes open – several events-within-the-event are held. Among them are:

• Buzz for the Cure: A long-standing raiseRED tradition, students pledge to shave their head, or do a major chop, during the dance marathon if they reach their fundraising goal.
• Angel Hour: The people in participants’ lives who have been impacted by cancer and blood disorders are recognized and remembered. 
• Mail Call: Letters of support from participants’ loved ones are read to cheer them on.
• Neon Silent Disco: The speaker system goes silent and participants wear headphones to dance to music only they can hear.
• And new this year: The Hypnotic Experience. Hypnotist ‘TG’ Rivers will tap participants to be hypnotized to entertain the crowd.

It’s the cause, however, of battling childhood cancer and blood disorders that is the core of the effort, said raiseRED Executive Director Valerie Tran, a senior majoring in industrial engineering.

“raiseRED is a year-long effort to help children with cancer and blood disorders in the Louisville area, and I’m so humbled to see the courage these kids show,” Tran said. “I know what we are doing and the funds we raise can make a difference in the lives of these children and their families every day.”

For information and to donate, visit the

On Tuesday, an unsuspecting Jones was led by co-workers into the M. Krista Loyd Resource Center at the cancer center, where she was presented with her award by Marc Lehmann’s father, George.

Marc Lehmann, a UofL student, passed away in 2012 after an eight-year battle with cancer. He had been diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia just a few months after high school graduation.

The Spirit of Service Awards in his name are given to oncology support staff who show compassionate patient support.

At the Brown Cancer Center, Jones provides psychosocial support and clinical case management for patients in the neuro, bone marrow transplant and gynecological oncology clinics. She works closely with bone marrow transplant patients with complicated issues that require lengthy care.

In her award nomination, nurse manager Dianne Thomas wrote that Jones “possesses a warm and friendly mannerism that is evident on your first encounter.” She noted Jones’ dedication and compassion to low-income patients, and her ability to build a strong rapport. Thomas noted that Jones has carved out new avenues for funding for patients, and “has become a valuable asset to her peers, as well as patients.”

She said Jones “deserves to be recognized for her dedication and loyalty.”

The Marc A. Lehmann Spirit of Service Award Foundation’s mission is to conduct and promote initiatives that encourage medical care with empathy and compassion, and to recognize physicians, caregivers and support staff with long-standing service to patients and their families in the areas of hematology and oncology.

Each October, the foundation holds an awards banquet at Vincenzo’s Italian restaurant, where five deserving oncology support staff from the community are recognized, along with one physician.

This year’s banquet will be held on Oct. 26. The featured speaker will be Jason Chesney, MD, director of the Brown Cancer Center, and the featured physician will be Kelly McMasters, MD, chair of the Hiram C. Polk Jr., MD, Department of Surgery at UofL and director of the Multidisciplinary Melanoma Clinic.

Paul Resch, director and advisory committee member of the foundation, is a leukemia survivor himself. He told Jones that in addition to doctors, he knew from experience how important the support staff was to cancer patients.

“It’s the feet on the ground that touch us every day that make a difference – whether it’s a touch, or a conversation. You’re blessed that you have those skills, and you’re sharing them with others. And it does make a difference.”

William Tse, MD, director of Bone Marrow Transplantation at the University of Louisville James Graham Brown Cancer Center, has been named editor-in-chief of the (IJTRM). Heidi M. Koenig, MD, professor in the Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine, has been named editor-in-chief of the (JMR).

IJTRM is a peer-reviewed, open-access journal covering research in tissue and organ transplantation and hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. It also publishes research articles in the field of transplant rejection, immunosuppressant drugs, matching techniques, human genetic variability, transplant infectious diseases, therapeutics for human diseases, device-oriented aspects of transplantation, genetically-engineered cells for transplantation, transplant complications and applications, transplant ethics and policy and more.

JMR is published by the (FSMB), an organization representing the 70 state medical licensure boards in the United States and territories. State medical boards license and discipline allopathic and osteopathic (MD and DO) physicians and, in Kentucky and other jurisdictions, other health care professionals. The quarterly, peer-reviewed journal features research and articles of interest to members of medical boards and individuals interested in medical licensing and regulation.

About William Tse, MD:

Tse was named director of the bone marrow transplantation program and the Marion F. Beard Endowed Chair in Hematology Research in the UofL Department of Medicine in September 2014. Previously, Tse was on the faculty at the University of Colorado Denver, where he was the director of translational research program for bone marrow transplantation and hematologic malignancies. 

He was honored “the Top Cancer Doctors from United States of America in 2015” by Newsweek Magazine, Top Medical Oncologist in 2014; and Leadership Development Program Award from American Society of Clinical Oncology in 2012, among other awards.

Tse is active in national organizations, serving in several capacities with the American Society of Hematology, including section chair for the annual meeting’s Oncogene Section and bone marrow transplantation outcome section, as well as the American Society of Clinical Oncology as an annual meeting abstract reviewer and the section chair on geriatric oncology.

Tse also serves leadership roles on several other journal editorial boards including as the senior editor of the American Journal of Blood Research, stem cell biomarkers section editor for Biomarker Research, senior editor of the American Journal of Stem Cells and academic editor of PLoS One.

About Heidi M. Koenig, MD:

In 2015, Koenig joined the FSMB Editorial Committee, which provides editorial guidance for JMR. Upon the retirement of the previous editor earlier this year, Koenig was named editor-in-chief of JMR.

“I hope to use my extensive knowledge of the various functions of the FSMB to the fullest by serving on the editorial committee,” Koenig said. “We are a small but growing journal and are working toward a greater online presence as well as becoming indexed (listed in a database such as PubMed or Medline).”

Koenig, who joined the UofL faculty in 2004, was named to the Kentucky Board of Medical Licensure in 2013 and has served on that board’s task forces on Standardized Minimum Sanctions and Telemedicine and as the board’s representative to the Kentucky Board of Nursing APRN Council. 

Koenig has been an active member of the Kentucky Society of Anesthesiology, serving as president from 2010-2014. She is author of more than 30 peer-reviewed publications in basic and clinical sciences. She gained editorial experience as an ad hoc editor for Metabolism, Anesthesia and Analgesia, Journal of Neurosurgical Anesthesiology, British Journal of Anaesthesia and Journal of Clinical Anesthesiology.

Herzig came to UofL in 2000 as co-division chief with his brother, Roger Herzig, MD, shown second from left, and held the position until his death in 2013. The symposium was created by current division chief William Tse, MD, at far left, with another presenter, Hillard Lazarus, MD, the George & Edith Richman Professor and Distinguished Scientist in Cancer Research at Case Western Reserve, at far right.

Twenty-six physicians and other scientists from the United States, Canada and England presented the symposium, covering the latest advances in treating leukemias, myelomas and other blood-borne cancers.

(Robert Burge Photography)