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AnthemLIVE! concert, tennis match to fund EVMS cancer research |
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November 16, 2005
Tennis Tournament and Concert to benefit cancer research, including research at EVMS.
Andy Roddick vs.
James Blake
followed by
Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter
John Mayer
and
platinum newcomer
Gavin DeGraw
ODU’s Ted Constant Center at 7 p.m. on
Dec. 1
Tickets range from $15 to $100 and courtside seats for 6 are available for $2,500.
To get tickets, go to www.constantcenter.com or call the Constant Center box office at
(888) 411-4TED.
Norfolk—In his career, tennis prodigy James Blake — who learned tennis in Harlem and rose to become a college champion at Harvard — has played in multimillion-dollar, globally televised tournaments against tennis legends.
But on December 1, Blake will come to Norfolk for a match Blake considers as crucial as any he’s ever played — an AnthemLIVE! exhibition against Andy Roddick, intended to raise money for cancer research.
In addition, Blake will host a 6 p.m. cocktail reception and auction Wednesday, Nov. 30, at the Norfolk Yacht and Country Club, where guests can bid for a private lesson with Andre Agassi, a tennis clinic with James Blake, and more. For tickets, call the EVMS Office of Institutional Advancement (446-6070) or the Norfolk Yacht & Country Club office (423-4500).
“This is a more important match against Andy than if it was in the U.S. Open,” Blake said at a Nov. 10 press conference at the Ted Constant Center, where AnthemLIVE! will take place. “An event like this is really going to help others.”
The exhibition will feature not only a tennis match between two of the world’s top players, but will be followed by a concert by Blake’s Harlem neighbor, two-time Grammy Award winner John Mayer, and another friend, Gavin DeGraw, whose recently released first album, “Chariot,” went platinum.
One third of the proceeds for the match will go to ground-breaking cancer research at EVMS.
Blake, 25, who watched his own father die of stomach cancer, conceived of a benefit involving tennis and music as a way to help find a cure for others suffering similar fates.
Blake said he’s played in exhibition matches, but this one is unusual because it includes “a full-blown concert as well.”
AnthemLIVE!, sponsored by Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield, will donate all proceeds to research programs at EVMS, Virginia Commonwealth University's Massey Cancer Center and Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.
In its last two years, AnthemLIVE! raised $1.3 million for cancer research.
“AnthemLIVE! has been successful beyond our expectations,” says Tom Byrd, president of Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Virginia.
O. John Semmes, Ph.D., an EVMS professor of Microbiology and Molecular Cell Biology, said funds from Blake’s event will help advance ground-breaking research whose goal is to identify and eradicate cancer long before it has a chance to do damage.
Proceeds that go to EVMS can help advance the proteomics program that relies on “extremely expensive instrumentation,” Semmes said.
Blake came up with the idea of the tennis match/concert after suffering a year that left his career and personal life shattered.
After rising to be a top college player at Harvard, Blake left to join the pro-tennis tour.
“I’m a college dropout,” he quipped during the press conference.
He rose through the ranks, developing an international reputation. In July 2003, as Blake left to play at Wimbledon, his father said he couldn’t go because he needed a hernia operation.
When Blake returned, his father confessed the truth: that he had cancer of the stomach lining. Even as his father’s health deteriorated, Blake continued to play. In May 2004, though, he suffered a freak accident in Rome, falling into a net post during practice and shattering a vertebra in his neck. During his recovery, a Zoster infection paralyzed his face, and impaired his hearing and eyesight.
Then, on July 3, 2004, his father died.
“Losing a parent is an indescribable experience,” Blake said.
With all the physical and emotional turmoil, many – Blake included – wondered if his tennis career was over.
Instead, he worked his way back.
Blake says his father’s death made him realize that there are things more important than tennis, but he seems to have drawn strength from the suffering. He’s now playing as well as he ever has. His match against tennis legend Andre Agassi in the 2005 U.S. Open is widely regarded as one of the most dramatic ever played, destined for ESPN classic reruns.
Although Blake lost on a tie-break, he considers that match one of his best.
“If you’re going to lose, it’s best to lose playing well against a legend like Andre Agassi,” Blake said.
Blake’s astonishing comeback has transformed him into a fan favorite. Today, he’s as big a draw as tennis legends like Agassi, or prodigies like Roddick.
Still, Blake never forgot his father’s agony and wanted to do something to help find a cure for cancer.
He tapped his friends Roddick, Mayer and DeGraw, then hooked up with Anthem, which handled all logistics.
AnthemLIVE! takes place at ODU’s Ted Constant Center at 7 p.m. on Dec. 1. A three-set tennis match between Blake and Roddick will be followed by a concert by Mayer and DeGraw.
Blake said a lot of people who aren’t tennis fans might be drawn to the event by Mayer and DeGraw. “Maybe we’ll convert them to being tennis fans as well.”
Tickets range from $15 to $100 and courtside seats are available for $2,500.
To get tickets, log on to http://www.constantcenter.com/ or call (888) 411-4TED or the Constant Center box office.
Top
For more information, contact:
Doug Gardner, Director of News and Publications
EVMS Office of Institutional Advancement
(757) 446-6070 -
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
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Sadhana Jackson named AMA Minority Scholar |
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November 15, 2005
Pictured from left to right: Jonathan King, Pfizer Medical Humanities Initiative representative; Sadhana Jackson, third-year medical student; and Steven Heatherly, Ph.D., third-year medical student and AMA minority affairs consortium member.
NORFOLK—Third-year EVMS medical student Sadhana Jackson was named a Minority Scholar of the American Medical Association (AMA) Foundation.
“I feel very honored to receive this scholarship, especially since I am the first one from EVMS to receive it,” said Jackson, one of only 10 recipients nationwide.
The scholarship, which began two years ago, helps minority students ease some of their medical education debt and increase diversity in the physician workforce to eliminate racial and ethnic health care disparities.
The award recognizes academic achievement and potential for those underrepresented in medicine. Less than seven percent of physicians fall within these underrepresented groups.
Scholarship recipients were recognized at AMA’s national conference in Chicago earlier this year.
“This scholarship will help me to push forward and realize that my work isn’t in vain,” Jackson said. “Plus it’s nice to get a pat on the back letting me know I’m doing a good job.”
Jackson is an active member of numerous organizations and a leader in the Student Chapter of the Student National Medical Association (SNMA). She assisted in establishing outreach efforts within SNMA. In one such effort, Jackson pairs minority medical students with minority college students interested in medicine to give them first- hand knowledge of what medical school is like. Each year Jackson and other medical students team up with students from Norfolk State University and Old Dominion University.
When Jackson completes her medical training she hopes to work in underserved communities and establish a free clinic to assist in lessening health care disparities.
Top
For more information, contact:
Doug Gardner, Director of News and Publications
EVMS Office of Institutional Advancement
(757) 446-6070 -
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
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Patricia Williams presented with distinguished service award |
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November 14, 2005
Patricia Williams, Ph.D.
NORFOLK—Patricia Williams, Ph.D., professor of physiological sciences at Eastern Virginia Medical School, has been honored by the American College of Clinical Pharmacology (ACCP) with the Nathaniel Kwit Distinguished Service Award.
The award recognizes the career accomplishments of an individual benefiting clinical pharmacology in the areas of teaching, administration and service to the ACCP.
Williams, a Norfolk resident, has pursued her research interests at EVMS for more than 30 years. She is director of the Thomas R. Lee Center for Ocular Pharmacology at EVMS.
She has been an active member of the ACCP since the early 1980s, serving as an honorary regent and treasurer. She frequently speaks about clinical pharmacology across the country.
Williams is a graduate of the Medical College of Virginia and the University of Michigan.
The ACCP was founded in 1969 as a professional and scientific society that provides leadership, education, advocacy, and resources enabling clinical pharmacists to excel in practice and research areas of clinical and patient pharmacy and pharmacotherapy.
Top
For more information, contact:
Doug Gardner, Director of News and Publications
EVMS Office of Institutional Advancement
(757) 446-6070 -
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
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EVMS student selected AMA minority scholar |
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November 14, 2005
Sadhana Jackson
NORFOLK—Sadhana Jackson, a third-year medical student at Eastern Virginia Medical School, has been named a Minority Scholar of the American Medical Association (AMA) Foundation.
The AMA award recognizes academic achievement and potential for those underrepresented in medicine.
Jackson and nine other recipients across the nation received $10,000 scholarships to ease some of their medical education debt and increase diversity in the physician workforce. Minorities make up less than seven percent of physicians in the country.
Jackson, a Chesapeake resident, is an active member of numerous organizations and a leader in the Student Chapter of the Student National Medical Association; in that role she partners minority medical students with minority college students interested in medicine.
When Jackson completes her medical training, she hopes to work in underserved communities and establish a free clinic to help decrease health care disparities.
Top
For more information, contact:
Doug Gardner, Director of News and Publications
EVMS Office of Institutional Advancement
(757) 446-6070 -
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
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Last Updated on Saturday, 23 May 2009 19:04 |
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