The Brain Surgeon's Take

The V Foundation for Cancer Research was founded by ESPN and legendary basketball coach Jim Valvano with one goal in mind: to achieve Victory Over Cancer®. Since its formation in 1993, the V Foundation has awarded more than $260 million in cancer research grants nationwide and has grown to become one of the premier supporters of cutting-edge cancer research. Uniquely, due to generous donors, the Foundation has an endowment that covers administrative expenses. Therefore, 100% of direct donations benefit cancer research and programs. This means that not a single penny of donations goes to operating expenses. Period.

The mission of The V Foundation is to fund game-changing research and all-star scientists to accelerate victory over cancer and save lives. Researchers are continually developing better screening tools and learning more about prevention and early detection. Scientists are developing more targeted therapies that keep the whole patient healthier while zeroing in on the disease. While there aren’t cures yet, each breakthrough is one step closer to finding them. Donations make research possible, and it’s why every donation makes a difference.

The V Foundation awards competitive grants through a process vetted by a Scientific Advisory Committee. This committee is comprised of the nation’s top doctors and scientists in cancer research. The V Foundation has awarded grants to more than 154 institutions in 40 states, as well as in Canada.

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Daniel Weitzner is Founding Director of the MIT Internet Policy Research Initiative, Principal Research Scientist at CSAIL, and teaches Internet public policy in MIT’s Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Department. Weitzner’s research pioneered the development of Accountable Systems to enable computational treatment of legal rules.  Weitzner was United States Deputy Chief Technology Officer for Internet Policy in the White House, where he led initiatives on privacy, cybersecurity, copyright, and digital trade policies promoting the free flow of information. He was responsible for the Obama Administration’s Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights and the OECD Internet Policymaking Principles. 

Weitzner has been a leader in Internet public policy from its inception, making fundamental contributions to the successful fight for strong online free expression protection in the United States Supreme Court, and for laws that control government surveillance of email and web browsing data. 

Weitzner has a law degree from Buffalo Law School, and a B.A. in Philosophy from Swarthmore College. His writings have appeared in Science magazine, the Yale Law Review, Communications of the ACM, the Washington Post, Wired Magazine and Social Research.  Weitzner is a founder of the Center for Democracy and Technology, led the World Wide Web Consortium’s public policy activities, and was Deputy Policy Director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

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Dan Lambert founded American Top Team in 2001. Their vision was to build a world class training facility where MMA fighters could get all of their training under one roof, similar to the Brazilian Top Team gym previously co-founded by Liborio in Rio de Janeiro. A businessman by trade and Brazilian jiu-jitsu enthusiast, Lambert oversaw American Top Team as it became one of the top MMA training facilities and martial arts academies in the world. Headquartered in Coconut Creek, Florida, American Top Team has produced numerous MMA world champions and highly notable competitors. It is widely considered one of the top MMA facilities in the world, and it won the Best Gym category at the World MMA Awards in 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019.There are currently over 40 American Top Team affiliates worldwide representing the ATT banner.

Bring Back the U is a Miami-based NIL company focused on helping UM’s football players monetize their name, image, and likeness. Bring Back the U was established with two goals in mind: Helping the University of Miami football program reestablish its tradition of greatness, and Procuring NIL sponsorships for UM football players so that they too can benefit from the billions of dollars generated by college football.

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Cabana graduated from the US Naval Academy with a degree in mathematics. He was commissioned a second lieutenant and served as an A-6 bombardier. Cabana earned the Daughters of the American Revolution award as the top Marine to complete flight training. He graduated with distinction and has logged over 7,000 hours in 50 different kinds of aircraft.

Cabana became an astronaut in 1986. He was assigned to the Johnson Space Center Astronaut Office, serving as lead astronaut in the Shuttle Avionics Integration Laboratory; Mission Control Spacecraft Communicator, and chief of NASA's Astronaut Office. A veteran of four spaceflights, Cabana has logged 38 days in space, serving as the pilot on 2 flights and mission commander on the 2 other flights. His fourth flight was the first assembly mission of the International Space Station. Following his retirement as a colonel, Cabana was appointed a member of the Federal Senior Executive Service and ultimately became deputy director of the Johnson Space Center in Houston. In 2008, Cabana was named the 10th Director of the JFK Space Center.

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Nicole Stott is a veteran of multiple spaceflights and 104 days living and working in space on both the Space Shuttle and the International Space Station (ISS). Highlights of her spaceflight missions include 3 Space Shuttle flights and 2 ISS Expeditions, 1 spacewalk, flying the robotic arm for the first track and capture of the free flying Japanese HTV cargo vehicle, installation and first run on the COLBERT treadmill, and ISS maintenance.  She was the last ISS crew member to return to Earth on a Space Shuttle.

Nicole's 28 year NASA career started at the Kennedy Space Center where she worked as an engineer. Prior to being selected as an Astronaut, Nicole worked for 2 years at the Johnson Space Center as a Flight Simulation Engineer in the NASA Aircraft Operations Division.
 
Nicole was selected as an Astronaut in 2000, as one of 17 members of the 18th group of NASA Astronauts. She earned a BS in Aeronautical Engineering from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and a MS in Engineering Management, from the University of Central Florida.

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Nicole Lynn is truly a force of nature and trailblazer in every sense of the word. In 2015, she became the first female agent to represent top NFL agency, PlayersRep. In 2017, PlayersRep was acquired by Young Money APAA Sports Agency, owned by world-renowned rapper, Lil Wayne. In 2019, she became the first black female agent to represent a top 3 NFL draft pick (Quinnen Williams of the New York Jets).
 
Today, Nicole is one of the youngest female sports agents in the industry, signing her first client at only 26. Her extensive client list includes NFL players with the Denver Broncos, Oakland Raiders, Washington Redskins, an ESPY nominated Softball star, and a Ballerina from the famous American Ballet Theatre. She has also been awarded 2x Woman of the Year by The Hustle. All these accomplishments are only the beginning for Mrs. Lynn.

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Michael Buttrick is a member of the US Army 3rd Special Forces Group and Senior Special Forces Medical Sergeant. He is actively engaged in planning and preparation for upcoming deployment to Africa, as well as a Mountain Leader and Sniper team leader for Detachment. He has executed a full spectrum tactical train up with detachment for air, sea, and land operations.

In 2017, Michael won the Special Forces Group Best Warrior Competition. He graduated in the top 10% of Special Forces Qualification Course and earned Distinguished Graduate on Commandant’s List. Michael excelled at Special Forces Qualification Course- Survival School, Small Unit Tactics Instruction, Special Forces Medical Skills, and 6 months of Russian Language Training. He was a Top 20 physical performer in his graduating class, earning follow-on slot to Military Free Fall School and Soldier of the Cycle/Distinguished Honor Graduate.

Michael’s credentials include Top Secret Security Clearance, Special Operations Combat Medic, Special Forces Sniper, Master Mountaineer, Jumpmaster, Airborne, and Military Free Fall. Michael graduated from Yale University with a BA in Political Science and obtained a Masters in International Security Studies from The National Defense University before joining the United States Military.

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Kellon Akeem has blazed his own trail within the entertainment industry. Mr Akeem has a keen ability to enterprise and bring ideas from conception to reality. As CEO of Mansa Productions (www.mproductions.co), a television and film content production company, Kellon has demonstrated excellence in bringing forward profound content and well regarded projects. 
 
A Father’s Love, made its debut during the 2018 American Black Film Festival. Since then, Kellon and Mansa Productions have worked alongside Datari Turner Productions, Scythia Films, Macro and Mandalay Pictures on major feature films: “Percy” and “Nine Days”.  In 2020 Mansa went into it's first lead production on the project titled, “A Lot Of Nothing,” which granted the very talented Mo McCrae his directorial debut.
 
Kellon finds creative ways to cultivate an intersection between compelling content and community engagement. Kellon’s appetite for enterprising does not settle. This master of business development has earned an honorable reputation amongst heavy hitters in the media and entertainment world. This is evidenced by collaborations with the likes of Anthony Mackie, Omar Dorsey, Woody McClain, Jessie T. Usher, Tichina Arnold, T.I. and a successful host of others in the sports, music and entertainment industry.

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One of ESPN’s most respected and longest-tenured personalities, Jeremy Schaap has been with the network since 1994. He is a regular contributor to Nightline and ABC World News Tonight and has been published in Sports Illustrated, ESPN The Magazine, Time, Parade, The Wall Street Journal, and The New York Times. Schaap has covered most major sports and sporting events in the world, including summer Olympics, winter Olympics, FIFA World Cup, Tour de France, European soccer championship, World Series, Super Bowl, U.S. Open (golf and tennis), Wimbledon, French Open, men’s Final Four, women’s Final Four, New York City marathon, NBA playoffs, World Cup of Hockey, Daytona 500, Kentucky Derby, Belmont Stakes, college football national championship game, Breeders’ Cup, world championship boxing, Special Olympics World Games, Invictus Games, and X Games.

Schaap is the author of Cinderella Man: James J. Braddock, Max Baer, and the Greatest Upset in Boxing History, a New York Times best-seller, and Triumph: The Untold Story of Jesse Owens and Hitler’s Olympics. In 2018, Schaap co-directed 42 to 1, the acclaimed 30 for 30 documentary about Buster Douglas, who in 1990 upset Mike Tyson to win the undisputed heavyweight championship. But it has been Schaap’s reporting on sports issues around the world, especially those at the intersection of sports and society at large, focusing on human rights, for which he is perhaps best known.

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Mike Hayes is the former Commanding Officer of SEAL Team TWO, leading a two thousand–person Special Operations Task Force in Southeastern Afghanistan. In addition to a twenty-year career as a SEAL, Mike was a White House Fellow, served two years as Director of Defense Policy and Strategy at the National Security Council, and has worked directly with both Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama. Beyond his military and governmental service, Mike is currently the Chief Digital Transformation Officer at VMware. He joined VMware in October 2020, and leads the company’s worldwide business operations and the acceleration of the company’s SaaS transition. Previously, he was SVP and Head of Strategic Operations at Cognizant Technology. Mike also served in Chief of Staff and COO roles at Bridgewater Associates, the world’s largest and most successful hedge fund. Mike holds an M.A. in Public Policy from Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government and received his B.A. from Holy Cross College. His military decorations include the Bronze Star for valor in combat in Iraq, a Bronze Star for Afghanistan, and the Defense Superior Service Medal from the White House. Hayes is a lifetime member of the Council on Foreign Relations, a member of the board of directors of Immuta, a data governance company, and of the National Medal of Honor Museum, and a senior advisor to Inherent Group, an impact investment firm.

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