Susan and Len Mark

NEW YORK, N.Y. – Susan and Len Mark of Stamford have been named recipients of the Tower of Hope Humanitarian Award by the Israel Cancer Research Fund (ICRF). The Marks will be presented with their award at the ICRF’s gala on Wednesday, Dec. 3, at the Pierre Hotel in New York City.

Nobel Laureate Dr. Aaron Ciechanover, an ICRF research professor and distinguished professor at the Tumor and Vascular Biology Research Center of the Technion Institute of Technology, will be the guest speaker. Benjamin Brafman, a New York criminal litigator, will receive the ICRF’s Beacon of Hope Award.

Active in communal affairs for more than 30 years, the Marks are sponsors of the Len and Susan Mark Youth Outreach Center in Afula, Israel, which provides supportive services for Ethiopian teens.

Len Mark was a Board member of the Stamford Housing Development Fund, a founding board member and treasurer of Kulanu, Stamford’s supplemental Jewish high school, a board member and House Committee chair of Stamford’s Congregation Agudath Sholom, president of Revonah Woods Property Owners Association, and a member of the Board of Trustees of Bi-Cultural Day School. He has served in several key positions at United Jewish Federation of Greater Stamford, Darien and New Canaan, including that of vice president of finance, and chair of three Annual Campaigns and Stamford’s Israel Emergency campaign.  Professionally, he is a manager of various properties, including self-storage facilities and offices, retail and industrial.

Susan Mark has served as a Board member of Congregation Agudath Sholom in Stamford and of the League of Women Voters. She has twice chaired the Bi-Cultural Day School gala and has also been an active member of Hadassah, serving as a member of the National Board, as president of the Connecticut Region and as national vice president. Currently, she serves on the Board of Friendship Circle, a community organization supporting special needs children.

The Marks recently earmarked a major three-year gift to ICRF, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to harness Israel’s scientific talent to find a cure for cancer.

“It was an easy decision for us to support ICRF because of its mission to retain the best scientific minds in Israel by providing the resources needed to fund their world-class research,” said Len Mark. “We are so pleased that ICRF has brought together our desire to fight ovarian and other cancers and our lifetime commitment to Israel.”

ICRF-funded research has helped lead to the development of life-saving drugs such as Gleevec, Doxil and Velcade; the discovery of the location and chemical nature of the p53 tumor-suppressor gene; and the identification of the “Philadelphia Chromosome,” the first abnormal chromosome found in leukemia. Among the areas of cancer research directly sponsored by ICRF are studies in bone, brain, breast, colorectal, liver, gastrointestinal, lung, kidney, pancreatic and uterine cancers; anti-cancer mechanisms, multi-drug resistance, and target therapy.