Meet Team Knox.
We are family, friends, doctors, and warriors devoted to funding the next breakthrough in brain cancer research.
The Knox Martin Foundation for Brain Cancer Research emerged less than four months after Knox's passing, born out of the resolute desire to transform tragedy into progress. This foundation, steeped in purpose and driven by love, embarks on a mission to defy the grim realities that Glioblastoma presents. Knox's story serves as the catalyst for our unwavering commitment to forge a new narrative in brain cancer treatments across our country and, eventually, the world.
Our Co-Founders and Leadership
Becky Martin
Founder, President & CEO
Becky is Knox’s mom and lived the brain cancer journey with him. As CEO, she engages community partners and renowned research institutions to fund and design life-saving treatments for those currently battling this devastating disease. She has over ten years of experience in nonprofit management and development and is a recent graduate of Emory University's Candler School of Theology, where she earned a Master's degree in Religion and Public Life: a degree that combines theological thought with nonprofit leadership and management. Throughout Knox’s journey of diagnosis, recurrence, craniotomies, radiation, chemotherapy, and a host of other setbacks, he never gave up. Never. Knox taught Becky the value of determination and grit. The day Knox passed, Becky made some promises to him. One was that she would spend the rest of her life funding innovative brain cancer research so someone else’s Knox could have a shot at a longer life. Becky is honored to partner with and serve alongside the KMF community of friends, donors, sponsors, and board members to do just that!
Joseph Stark
Co-Founder
Madison Letts-Katz
Co-Founder & Chief Operating Officer
Madison was born and raised in Charlotte, NC, and graduated from the Lamar Dodd School of Art at UGA. She now resides in New York City, where she writes and works as KMF's COO. Madison brings her expertise in branding, strategy, and operations to help KMF manage day-to-day operations, marketing, and event planning. In her free time, she enjoys cooking and walking around the city. Madison's debut memoir—a story about her experience as Knox's partner—was published in April of 2023. The book is now available for purchase anywhere books are sold. While Knox and Madison were together, he told her he wanted to help other people through their cancer journey once his own finally came to an end. Though Knox is no longer here with us, Madison believes his legacy lives on through the foundation and the work that she and fellow KMF board members do in his honor each day.
Patrick Baughman
Co-Founder
Riley Martin
Co-Founder &
Historian
Riley is Knox's brother. He was born and raised in Gainesville, Georgia and he's currently pursuing a graduate degree in Landscape Architecture at UGA. Riley is passionate about GBM treatment and patient care upon diagnosis. He has witnessed firsthand how new breakthroughs in treatment are crucial throughout the patient's cancer battle, so he's excited that KMF is focusing on underfunded GBM research. Riley believes that Knox’s charisma lives on through every KMF board member. He believes this foundation is an excellent example of how, with persistence and determination, anything is possible.
Wade Cox
Co-Founder
Our Directors of Medical Research
Dr. Desjardins, MD, FRCPC
Director of Medical Research
Annick completed her residency in Adult Neurology at the Universite de Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada. Her residency was followed by a two-year fellowship in Neuro-oncology at The Preston Robert Tisch Brain Tumor Center at Duke. Upon completion of her fellowship in July of 2005, she joined the Brain Tumor Center as faculty. Dr. D is the Director of Clinical Research at Duke's Brain Tumor Center and the Clinical Trials Core Co-Director for the Duke Brain Tumor SPORE and P01 grants. She is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Canada in Adult Neurology and is certified in the subspecialty of Neuro-oncology by the United Council for Neurologic Subspecialties. Her main focus in clinical research includes the direct intracerebral administration of therapeutics. At Duke, she has been the Principal Investigator on over 40 therapeutic trials in neuro-oncology, led international multi-center trials, and held several INDs.
Dr. Mustafa Khasraw, MD
Director of Medical Research
Mustafa is a medical oncologist, neuro-oncologist, professor of medicine and neurooncology, and Deputy Director of the Center for Cancer Immunotherapy at Duke University. At Duke, he is tasked with speeding up clinical research and translation for scientists across all departments and all tumor types. Dr. Khasraw is the Clinical Trials TRACK co-lead for Society of Neuro-oncology (SNO). He serves as an advisor and grant reviewer for several non-profits and patient advocacy groups. He is a Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians and an Elected Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians (UK) and an Honorary Professor at the University of Sydney (Australia).
Dr. Kelly Hotchkiss, PhD
Medical Advisory Board Member
Kelly is a scientist and basic science lead with expertise in developing pre-clinical immune cell culture, synthetic biology and animal models as well as evaluations of biological systems from a biomedical engineering perspective. She has worked with the team for 5 years and recently published two peer reviewed papers focused on improving clinical trial design in brain cancer.
KMF at UGA
KMF at UGA is a growing community of UGA students partnering with the Knox Martin Foundation to raise money for brain cancer research.
“We are a Dawg foundation through and through, and the UGA community is one of our biggest supporters. We love UGA, we love everything that it stands for, and we’re incredibly proud of our ties to the university.”
- Riley Martin, KMF Historian and proud Dawg.
Our Community
Because without our friends, donors, and volunteers, none of this would've been possible.
Thank you.
