Hosten Fellowship To Aid Cancer Research

The Heston Hosten Fellowship for colon cancer research has been established by the Billboard Music Group with the T.J. Martell Foundation for Leukemia, Cancer, and AIDS Research.
Hosten, editor in chief of Billboard's four Airplay Monitor publications, died Nov. 19 in New York after an extended battle with colon cancer. He was 29 years old.
According to Tony Martell, chairman of the T.J. Martell Foundation, the fellowship will help the organization to keep at least one highly qualified scientist devoting his or her attention to colon cancer research.
The Billboard Music Group will announce annual fund-raising activities to complement its own contributions. 'The creation of this fellowship will allow us to contribute towards the continuing battle against this disease and remember our friend and colleague,' says Howard Lander, the group's president/publisher.
The T.J. Martell Foundation was established in 1975 after Martell's son, T.J., died of leukemia. The organization raised more than $8 million in 1997 for research into cancer and AIDS and to date has raised more than $110 million. Martell says the foundation's doctors are currently treating 57 people in the music industry or their family members.
Colon cancer is one of the most common cancers, according to Dr. James F. Holland, scientific director for the T.J. Martell Foundation and chief of the division of neoplastic diseases in the department of medicine at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York.
Most cases occur in men and women over 50 years of age, although those with a family history of colon cancer are good candidates to be tested for the disease, he says. Holland also notes that colon cancer is preventable, citing studies that show that a low-fat diet rich in grains, fruits, and vegetables limits the chances of developing the disease.
Hosten, a five-year veteran of the Billboard-affiliated Broadcast Data Systems (BDS), joined Airplay Monitor in April (Billboard, Nov. 29). Despite his ongoing battle with cancer, Hosten's tenure at Airplay Monitor was marked by the development of numerous new charts and features, some of which will continue to debut in those publications in the months to come.
Contributions to the Heston Hosten Fellowship may be sent to the T.J. Martell Foundation, 6 W. 57th St., New York, N.Y. 10019.

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