Keynote Presentation: 
I Didn't Hear No Bell: One More Round

Melvin Mann, MBA, M.Ed
Cecelia Mann
Patrice Mann, MD, MPH
 

Mel Mann, MBA, M.Ed, was diagnosed 29 years ago, in January 1995, with Chronic Myeloid Leukemia while stationed in the Army with his wife Cecelia and five-year old daughter, Patrice. He was given three years to live unless a bone marrow donor could be found. Mel, with Cecelia and Patrice on his team, conducted numerous bone marrow drives and have recruited thousands of potential marrow donors onto the marrow donor registry; however, he was unable to find a lifesaving donor.

In August 1998, Mel entered phase 1 of the lifesaving Gleevec Clinical Trial and now 25 years later, Mel is the world’s longest living Gleevec and Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitor (TKI) survivor. Ten months after starting Gleevec, in June 1999, Mel ran a 26.2-mile marathon, in Anchorage Alaska, for The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s Team in Training. In November 1999, he cycled 111 miles in Tucson, Arizona, for Team in Training. For these events, and others, Mel raised money for Leukemia Research.

Mel has written for organizations such as Cure Magazine, Coping Magazine, Pharmacy Times, Cancer Horizons, Patient Power, Cancer Today Magazine, Heal Magazine, and the MD Anderson Cancer Center News. Mel, Cecelia, and Patrice have appeared on numerous television and radio shows. Mel previously served as the National Community Outreach Coordinator for The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s Myeloma Link Program, expanding the program from a pilot program in two cities to 13 cities. Cecelia served vigorously as a Myeloma Link community outreach volunteer. LLS volunteers for the past 25 years, Mel and Cecelia, have also advocated for blood cancers patients on the state and national level. They are also Ambassadors for the Be The Match Bone Marrow Donor Program. Mel was invited to the White House for the 2022 Cancer Moonshot announcement. Patrice Mann, MD, MPH, is a Harvard and Emory University trained psychiatrist. Mel, Cecelia, and Patrice reside in Atlanta, GA.