Elected to the Board in 2001, Tom Lusk is an Institutional Futures Broker with Carr Futures in Chicago. He has spent the last 20 years working on the floor of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.

He was first introduced to von Hippel-Lindau when his wife was diagnosed in 1992. He found the information he received from the Alliance very helpful. He would like to help make sure the VHLFA can continue its work and to grow so those that are faced with the challenges of VHL will always have support and a source for the latest in medical information pertaining to VHL.

Tom is a member of the Finance Committee.

Board Elections 2002

The results of the current ballot are in! Maria has been re-elected for a second term; Matt and Andy add their expertise to the group. We are positioning ourselves for strength and growth in our second decade!

Maria S., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Maria has served on the Board as Director of Communication since 1999, and as Chairman of the Board since 2001. She has been Chairman of the Pennsylvania Chapter since 1997. "I feel Pennsylvania and the entire country needs to be more informed about this disease that is not so rare, just under-diagnosed. I would not want anyone else to go through what I did to find information about VHL. I need to let the medical professionals know what VHL is and how to screen for it. I am honored to be part of the VHLFA Board."

Mattison C. Painter, Brentwood, Tennessee

Matt is taking over the key role of Treasurer. His wife’s family is affected by VHL. A graduate of Vanderbilt School of Law, Matt is a tax attorney in Brentwood, Tennessee, a suburb of Nashville, where he works with many clients in the area of estate planning and charitable giving. Matt has served in various positions with charitable and professional organizations including Miami Valley Housing Opportunities, Inc. (Trustee), the Dayton Art Institute, Kettering Medical Center Foundation, the Dayton Bar Association, the Nashville Bar Association (Treasurer 2000), and the Nashville Bar Foundation (Trustee). He also speaks frequently to lay and professional groups regarding various estate tax and charitable contributions planning topics.

Andrew Lax, San Francisco, California

Andy Lax brings exceptional corporate, messaging and issues experience through his nearly 20 years as a senior business journalist, producer and publisher. Andy graduated from Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania. He is a public relations account executive in San Francisco. He brings his considerable media relations talent to the team. During his 17 years in broadcast news he help cover major news stories for ABC and NBC Television operating stations. Andy also helped developed Ziff-Davis Television in association with MSNBC Television. He has won Columbia University’s George Peabody Award for Distinguished Journalism with ABC News, and the Telly Award for Corporate Communications.

Click here for the full list of Board Members of the VHL Family Alliance

As printed in the VHL Family Forum 10:2, June 2002. For permission to reprint, please contact VHL Family Alliance, editor@vhl.org.