Highlighting Metastatic Young (MY) LIFE: A Focus on Young Women Living with Metastatic Breast Cancer (MBC)
December 6, 2016 Rayburn House Office Building Gold Room Capitol Hill, Washington, DC Time: 12:00 pm – 3:00 pm
Clickherefor Sponsorship package and registerhere.
5th Annual Young Women’s Breast Health Day on the Hill Hosted in Partnership with Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz
Young Women’s Breast Health Day on the Hill MY LIFE Mission Statement
The mission of Tigerlily Foundation’s 2016 Young Women’s Breast Health Day on the Hill is to focus on creating awareness of Metastatic Breast Cancer (MBC) and the need to drive resources, support, improved quality of life and increased government funding allotted for breast cancer towards MBC research to improve treatment options, quality of life and to ultimately change MBC from a terminal disease to a chronic disease.
The funding discrepancy: 90%+ of dying cancer patients are dying from cancer metastasis, yet only 2.3% of cancer research dollars ($11 million out of $485 million) in the United States has recently gone to cancer research designed to improve outcomes for metastatic patients specifically.
150,000 people in the US have Metastatic Breast Cancer
MBC claims more than 40,000 lives a year.
Patients who appear “cured” of cancer can face metastasis months or years down the road as tumor cells shed from the primary tumor can hide out in the body only to become re-activated later and grow out in a new organ. Roughly 30% of breast cancer patients treated successfully for their primary disease will later be diagnosed with breast cancer metastasis.
Shawn Yancy is a News Anchor with WTTG-TV, FOX 5 News in Washington, DC. She has known since third grade that she wanted to be a broadcast journalist. Shawn feels blessed to be living out her dream right here in the nation’s capital. People often ask her what she likes most about her work. Her answer: “It’s the incredible people I meet and the incredible stories they allow us to share.” One of the biggest stories I had to share came on my second day on the job at FOX 5: the September 11th terrorist attacks. She grew up in the Midwest and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Telecommunications from Ball State University. She spent time after college anchoring the news for a country radio station, and learned to line dance, too! Her career path eventually led her to anchor and report at TV stations in Fort Wayne, Indiana and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She’s earned an Edward R. Murrow Award for an investigative series on asbestos at The National Institutes of Health and an Emmy for Outstanding News Anchor in Washington, D.C. When she’s not reporting the news, she works with charitable organizations that promote the well-being of women, children and families. Shawn is an active member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated; and also an abstract artist. In her spare time… you’ll find her painting, reading, interior decorating and spending time with her family.
Special Guests
Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-FLRep. Wasserman Schultz represents Florida’s 23rd Congressional district. In the 113th Congress, as a ranking member of the Legislative Branch Subcommittee, she will serve on the subcommittee that determines the funding level for the entire legislative branch. Wasserman Schultz was also recommended to the House Appropriations Subcommittee on State and Foreign Operations. She also serves as a Chief Deputy Whip where she works to help advance legislation important to the Democratic caucus.
In March 2009, after announcing her own battle with breast cancer, Wasserman Schultz introduced the Education and Awareness Requires Learning Young Act, or EARLY Act (H.R. 1740), a piece of legislation that directs the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to develop and implement a national education campaign about the threat breast cancer poses to all young women, and the particular heightened risks of certain ethnic, cultural and racial groups. This bill became law as part of the Affordable Health Care Act in March, 2010.
In 2011, Rep. Wasserman Schultz joined the Congressional Caucus for Women’s Issues, a bipartisan Members’ organization dedicated to promoting women’s economic, health, legal, and educational interests. Amongst her accomplishments is the passage of the PROTECT Our Children Act, which creates the largest law enforcement effort ever formed for the protection of children, and, the passage of the Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act to combat childhood drowning.
She is committed to lower health care costs, improve the quality of life for our children, protect Social Security and Medicare, and provide a sensible homeland security plan to protect our citizens from the ongoing threat of terror. She continues to fight to ensure that our first responders, our local police and firefighters, have the tools they need to do their jobs. And she continues to take up the fight to give our troops and veterans the equipment and compensation they deserve. The Congresswoman is proud to call South Florida home where she resides with her family in Weston.
Dr. Sheri is a proven visionary, author and highly sought after physician leader. She is a board certified occupational & environmental medicine physician, public health expert, and a breast cancer survivor. Throughout her decades of clinical practice further fueled by her unique perspective as a physician and a patient, she has mastered emotional intelligence and as such she has become “mindful” in the practice of medicine. Her mindfulness has allowed her treatment to transcend medicine.
In addition to helping patients and healthcare practitioners transform how healthcare is delivered and experienced she also shares her story, her voice, her life, and her victory in awe-inspiring and motivational ways. Dr. Sheri brings the unique perspective of being a patient and a physician to her impassioned and captivating speeches. Her remarkable story of pain, loss and change has inspired hundreds of thousands of people across the country and abroad. She has delivered more than 500 keynote speeches and private seminars throughout the country and internationally. She has been featured in The New England Journal of Medicine, MORE, Essence, Oxygen, Today’s Chicago Woman, Weinberg Magazine, The Chicago Tribune and elsewhere. She has also been featured in hundreds of television, radio and newspaper interviews reaching millions around the country as an expert in helping individuals unlock their potential, boost their self-esteem, set new directions, and prepare for life-long achievements.
As an expert in transformative medicine, a natural extension of her own personal vision and mission in life is to educate consumers that healthcare and being healthy should be experienced joyfully through consistently positive, personalized and productive interactions with their healthcare practitioners. Dr. Sheri is the CMO & Chief Development Officer of Surgical & Aesthetic Supplies, a company providing post-surgical garments and DME, including compression garments for the treatment of lymphedema, of exceptional quality and unsurpassed value.
Dr. Prentiss recently began her journey of acquiring her Masters in Theological Studies from Liberty University, She has obtained the following degrees: BA, with honors, Northwestern University 1989; MD, with honors, Loyola Stritch School of Medicine 1993; MPH, with a 5.0 GPA University of Illinois School of Public Health 1998; CPE (Certified Physician Executive), CCMM 2007. She is a member of the American College of Occupational & Environmental Medicine as well as a Fellow, past Director of the Board, and CPE Capstone teaching Fellow of the American Association for Physician Leadership. She is licensed to practice medicine in the states of IL and FL and has an administrative license in TX.
Maimah Karmo is the Founder and CEO of the Tigerlily Foundation and an eight year survivor of breast cancer. On February 28, 2006, at 4:45 p.m., Maimah was diagnosed with Stage 2 breast cancer. She had no family history of breast cancer; and was only 32-years old. While undergoing her second round of chemotherapy, she made a promise to God that if she survived, she would create an organization to educate, empower, advocate for and support young women affected by breast cancer. After her second treatment, Tigerlily Foundation was born. Beginning in chemotherapy, Maimah grew Tigerlily Foundation from a concept to a national organization, with more than 300 volunteers nationwide, providing breast health, wellness and transformational programs to young women in more than 43 states.
In 2010, she received the Congressional Black Caucus Leadership in Advocacy Award, and the Running Start “Women to Watch Award”. In October 2011, Maimah was appointed to the Federal Advisory Committee on Breast Cancer in Young Women, a committee established by the Affordable Care Act, on which she works to develop initiatives to increase knowledge of breast health and breast cancer, for women under the age of 40 and those at heightened risk for developing the disease. She is regularly called upon to speak at/moderate panels on Capitol Hill, as a leader in the world of breast health, in addition to being a speaker at various leadership events focusing on women, youth, health, wellness, politics, advocacy and empowerment. Maimah has dedicated her life to transformation women around the world. She recently travelled to Antigua, on a breast health education campaign. As a native of Liberia, West Africa, she is embarking on a global women’s health campaign to educate women of color, minorities and women of all races about health and advocacy.
She is an author, and speaker, and she has appeared in various media outlets, to include O, the Oprah Magazine, Essence, Ladies Home Journal, Cosmopolitan, Seventeen, Good Housekeeping, Harper’s Bazaar, Marie Claire, Redbook, Traditional Home Magazine and Cancer, Cure Magazine and more. She has also been featured on Fox 5, ABC 7, CBS, the Oprah Winfrey Show, Good Morning America, MSNBC and national radio stations. In 2009, Maimah was awarded a L’Oreal Paris’ Woman of Worth award, among others. Most dear to her heart is her 12-year old daughter, Noelle. Noelle is now an advocate in her own right, hosting a national event, , called Pajama Glam Party, where she engages girls to become advocates and to have healthy lifestyles. She speaks to the media and is interviewed on her perspectives on youth advocacy, girls health, and leadership.
In 2010, Maimah published her memoir, Fearless: Awakening to my Life’s Purpose Through Breast Cancer, which was a best seller. She is also a sought after speaker, presenter and panelist. In 2013, she founded Bliss Magazine, a quarterly publication that inspires others to live their soul purpose.
Megan King was named the Tigerlily Foundation’s 2015 Ambassador of the Year Award after chairing the TL 2014 Pink Boa 5K, raising over $35,000. She has been consistently active in the non-profit community since entering into college in 2009. Megan was president of the Enactus Chapter (a nonprofit, entrepreneurial student organization) and became a nationally ranked collegiate level competitive presenter. While president of Enactus she focused her attentions on two tiers, Community Support and Haitian Outreach.
Megan worked to improve and support the local community through strengthening small businesses by providing social media training, financial seminars and green audits. As well as coordinating multiple hunger-relief initiatives for the local Food Bank through events such as “Stuff A Truck”, “Cans Can Fight Hunger”, and hosting an Empty Bowl Dinner during the college’s annual Virginia Hunger Symposium. Megan’s Haitian Outreach was focused on fundraising, planning and implementing of the building of an earthquake resistant school and home for the disabled. Furthermore, she led fundraising for small businesses loans, cooperatives and miscellaneous health/ general community well-being programs. Megan traveled to Haiti in 2011 with her team to open the school for the disabled, meet with entrepreneurs to provide small business micro-loans and survey for future programs.
As she continues her involvement in the non-profit community and works to complete her studies in Communications and Public Relations, Megan has joined the Tigerlily Team as the Development Coordinator working to secure grants for the TL current and future programs and events.
Aminah Keats, ND, FABNO
Licensed naturopathic physician, Aminah Keats, ND, FABNO, is board certified in naturopathic oncology and has specialized in integrative oncology for over 10 years. Her goal with each patient is to create a personalized treatment plan that safely works to reduce side effects, support immune function and offer a cancer-fighting benefit to patients who are actively undergoing conventional oncology treatment. Dr. Keats also works with patients who are at high risk for cancer and those seeking naturopathic care for cancer prevention. She utilizes vitamin and nutrient therapy, botanical medicine, diet and lifestyle counseling in creating an individualized plan for each patient.
Dr. Keats received her undergraduate degree in Psychology from Spelman College and completed pre-medical coursework at Rutgers University. Before completing a two-year, hospital-based residency in integrative oncology at Cancer Treatment Centers of America, Dr. Keats received her naturopathic doctorate from the University of Bridgeport College of Naturopathic Medicine. Following the completion of her residency, Dr. Keats continued her work at Cancer Treatment Centers of America where she worked as a naturopathic oncology clinician and director of the naturopathic medicine department. She currently works in private practice at Capital Integrative Health in Bethesda, Maryland.
Dr. Keats holds her naturopathic medical license in the District of Columbia, Vermont and Maryland. She is a member of the Maryland Naturopathic Doctors Association and the Oncology Association of Naturopathic Physicians.
Dr. Rajendra has been practicing medical oncology and hematology in Loudoun County since 1991. He attended St. John’s Medical College in Bangalore, India. After completing his internal medicine training at Grant Hospital in Chicago, Illinois, he subsequently completed his fellowship in Medical Oncology and Hematology at Washington Hospital Center in Washington, D.C. During his training, he conducted research on breast cancer, lung cancer and ovarian cancer. Dr. Rajendra is Board Certified in internal medicine and medical oncology. He founded Oncology/Hematology of Loudoun and Reston in 1997.
Dr. Rajendra’s deep respect for oncology patients has inspired him to base his practice on a highly individualized approach wherein each patient’s treatment is tailored to best address their medical and personal needs. He welcomes the involvement of patients and their families in treatment planning, thus ensuring that patients are given proper support during their care.
Dr. Rajendra has earned many accolades for his work. In 2014, he was the recipient of the Inspire Award from the Tigerlily Foundation, an organization dedicated to empowering and supporting young women with breast cancer. He has been selected as a Top Doctor in Washingtonian Magazine’s annual survey of top physicians as chosen by their peers in 2008, 2012, 2014, and 2015; named one of the area’s Super Doctors® by Key Professional Media, Inc, and honored as one of the Washington, D.C. area’s “Outstanding Physicians” by Washington Consumer Checkbook magazine. He has been recognized as a Staff Star at Inova Loudoun Hospital, and served for many years on the Cancer Committee. The November 25, 2009 issue of Talk Loudoun featured him in the the article “Fighting Cancer: On Call With Dr. Rajendra.” Dr. Rajendra has twice been voted one of Loudoun County’s favorite medical specialists in Leesburg Today’s “Best of Loudoun” poll.
Dr. Rajendra, a husband and father of three sons, enjoys jogging, reading, and travel. He has been a part of the Loudoun community for over two decades.
Kelli Parker is no stranger to breast cancer having been treated for early-stage disease twice by the age of 31, but after metastatic progression to bone in 2014, she was in uncharted territory. Convinced she would soon die, she fell into a deep depression, remaining there for 5 months. Kelli lost 30 pounds, refused to eat, shower, and eventually leave her bed. She checked herself into an emotional rehab facility where she received intensive therapy, structure, and began to share her story. To her amazement, the “failure” she saw as her metastatic progression became a model of living graciously with adversity and soon, her physical symptoms began to wane.
Kelli returned to work in Walmart Treasury and built a network of metastatic patients, advocates, and researchers. Helping others connect to exceptional responders on the same treatment or with pathologically similar disease gave her a sense of purpose and took her mind off of her own diagnosis. She soon had her first scan that showed no evidence of disease (NED) and then discovered METAvivor. Kelli immediately identified with their mission of funding better long term treatment options for metastatic breast cancer (MBC) patients. She connected with board members eventually meeting them at the Capitol Hill Die In in October 2015. Kelli envisioned a fundraising gala, a masquerade, a METSquerade ball! She and her husband Zac partnered with Patrick and Lisa Quinn who lived nearby in Springdale, AR and the First Annual Northwest Arkansas METSquerade was born. They raised over $100,000 in one night and aim to more than double that next year.
Kelli is outspoken on social media. Her candid posts featured on Its About Time MBC, Stupid Dumb Breast Cancer, Live from Stage IV, and Tigerlilly provide a rare glimpse at life with MBC especially in women under 40.
Nearly 2 years into her MBC diagnosis, Kelli remains NED and passionately committed to improving the quality and quantity of MBC patient lives. Kelli, her husband Zac and their daughter Autumn reside in Northwest Arkansas and fully believe that through organizations like METAvivor, Tigerlilly, MBCN, and patient advocates, we’ll witness improvement in metastatic outcomes in our lifetime.
Maggie Kudirka began dancing at age four and later studied the Vaganova syllabus with Olga Tozyiakova, Svetlana Kravtsova, and Vadim Pijicov in her hometown of Ellicott City, Maryland. She graduated magna cum laude from Towson University where she performed principal roles in Swan Lake, Giselle, and Paquita. She danced professionally with Ballet ADI under the direction of Runqiao Du dancing principal classical roles in addition to creating numerous contemporary roles. Her many awards include the $5,000 Rising Star Award for Emerging Performing Artists, a silver medal from the Youth America Grand Prix (YAGP) Philadelphia Competition, finalist at YAGP New York nationals, and full merit scholarships to the Joffrey summer intensive and ballet trainee programs. In 2013, she joined the Joffrey Concert Group where she worked with Francesca Corkle and danced featured roles in works by Gerald Arpino, Donald Byrd, Larry Keigwin, Shawn Hounsell, Africa Guzman, and Davis Robertson.
After receiving a stage 4 breast cancer diagnosis in June 2014, Maggie took a leave of absence from the Joffrey Concert Group to undergo treatment. On June 24, 2014, she launched the Bald Ballerina Facebook page to share her cancer journey with family and friends and to raise awareness that breast cancer can also strike fit young women with a healthy lifestyle. Bald Ballerina has since grown into a social media movement with over 6,900 followers from over 40 different countries throughout the world. Her story has appeared in TODAY.com, the Daily Mail.com, Vogue.com, Dance Spirit Magazine and many others. A feature story created by WBAL-TV in Baltimore was broadcast by NBC affiliates across the USA. She currently is an advocate for Living Beyond Breast Cancer, METAvivor, and the Dancers Care Foundation. She travels throughout the United States giving master ballet classes and speaking to young dancers about metastatic breast cancer.
Dikla Benzeevi is a fourteen-year survivor of advanced metastatic stage-four breast cancer, originally diagnosed in her early 30s. Since her diagnosis, she has dedicated her time to breast cancer outreach and advocacy – assisting and guiding women with breast cancer and their loved ones through this difficult journey.
Through extensive networking, Dikla built one of the largest West Coast support and informational networks for young women affected by breast cancer in the mid-2000s. Sensing a similar need with the metastatic breast cancer community twelve years ago, and through her own experience undergoing 13 different cancer treatments and breast, spine and lung surgeries, Dikla expanded her network to offer extensive personalized support, resource and patient navigation services for metastatic breast cancer patients. As part of that network, she founded the largest support group on Facebook for metastatic breast cancer thrivers with over 1400 members and helped create and organize an annual MBC conference for MBC thrivers and their families in Southern California, a region of over 20 million residents.
Dikla is featured in various books and publications including Self Magazine, People Magazine and Los Angeles Magazine, is frequently interviewed on television and radio shows, and speaks at many public engagements nationally and internationally on issues related to breast health and breast cancer.
Dikla is also involved in many other outreach activities. She is a peer match counselor with Living Beyond Breast Cancer, Imerman Angels, ABCD, SHARE Cancer Support, and the Young Survival Coalition among others. Dikla served as a board member of the Susan G. Komen For The Cure Young Women National Advisory Council and is currently a board member of several breast cancer organizations including the Metastatic Breast Cancer Advisory Committee for Susan G. Komen for the Cure Los Angeles County Affiliate and the Noreen Fraser Foundation. She was honored as a Lifetime Television “Stop Breast Cancer for Life” Hero and her story was featured on the Jim Lehrer NewsHour and the Institute of Medicine (IOM) Report: Delivering High Quality Cancer Care: Charting a New Course for a System in Crisis.
Through her own long term survivorship and extensive knowledge of resources, Dikla provides hope and guidance for women dealing with breast cancer, and promotes greater public awareness of the needs of breast cancer thrivers. She advocates for greater funding for and creation of more comprehensive support services, for greater research funding into life extending and quality of life maintaining cancer treatments and ultimately for a cure for early and advanced stage breast cancer.
She does this all on a volunteer basis while undergoing treatment herself. She is passionate about promoting a message of hope – a message that firmly attests that with a great treatment plan, a proactive and informed approach, a positive and nurturing support network, healthy lifestyle habits, and a little bit of luck – anyone diagnosed with breast cancer can live long and well.
Her ultimate wish is that we can all put breast cancer behind us as a disease of the past, or at least have it be a chronic condition with a normal life span and minimal effect on our quality of life. We all deserve the full and meaningful life we strive to live.
Jamie Holloway earned her PhD from Georgetown University studying breast cancer progression in 2004. Interacting with clinicians who care for cancer patients, she gained an appreciation for the interaction between scientists, doctors, and patients. After completing her graduate studies, she left the lab to stay at home with her newborn daughter. When her second child was headed to kindergarten, instead of restarting her career, she was diagnosed with stage 2 triple negative breast cancer. She underwent eight rounds of intensive chemotherapy and a bilateral mastectomy in early 2013, and has been without evidence of disease since.
Jamie is now the Patient Advocate for the Metastatic Breast Cancer Project at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, providing support for the education and outreach activities of the project. In addition to her role at the Broad Institute, Jamie volunteers with the Georgetown Breast Cancer Advocates and is a Precision Medicine Advocate for Cure Forward. She speaks regularly to both scientific and lay audiences and is a contributing author for Cure Magazine. She and her husband live with their two children in Arlington, Virginia.
Elissa Bantug was a two-time cancer survivor by the age of 25. She has become an advocate for patients living with this disease appearing in television interviews, newspapers, magazines, and the radio speaking out about the barriers and challenges they often face including survivorship in early and advanced breast cancer care, long-term side effects, patient/caregiver/provider communication, improvements in quality and outcomes of care, technology as a communication tool, the mind/body connection, and health living after breast cancer. Ms. Bantug is involved in several communication and research initiatives including national guideline development, health education for patients and providers, survivorship care planning, and improvement of health outcomes. She has an undergraduate degree from Georgetown University in Women’s Health and a graduate degree from the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health in Health Education and Communication. Ms. Bantug is the Program Manager of Breast Cancer Communication, Education, and Survivorship at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center, oversees the Breast Cancer Survivorship Program and is co-directs the Young Women with Breast Cancer Program.
Kelly Lange has worked extensively as a patient advocate since her stage I breast cancer diagnosis in 1995. Kelly was re-diagnosed with regional recurrence in 2000 and has been in treatment for metastatic breast cancer since 2002. She has served on the Board of Directors at METAvivor since shortly after its founding in 2009. She has served as President of the organization and now serves as Treasurer.
Kelly was raised on Maryland’s Kent Island and received a BS in Chemical Engineering from Johns Hopkins University in 1986. After two years in plastics at Armstrong, Kelly took a position with Bendix Field Engineering Corporation in 1988 as a software engineer. There, she developed antenna control and orbital mechanics software for NASA and Navy antennas, including the Naval Academy’s S-band telemetry antenna. In 1994 Kelly moved to Northrop Grumman where she developed software infrastructure for torpedo detection and synthetic aperture sonar systems.
Kelly lives in Annapolis, MD with her husband, Michael, where they enjoy boating on the Chesapeake Bay. When she can squeeze in the time, Kelly also enjoys knitting and quilting.
Timothy Clark serves as the the Senior Government Affairs and Advocacy Official for Eisai, Inc. In that role, he leads federal and state government affairs, policy development and oversees the advocacy partnerships for Eisai in the US. Immediately prior to joining Eisai, he served in various policy and government affairs roles with Sanofi for 12 years.
Prior to entering the pharmaceutical industry in 2002, Tim spent a decade working in and with the New Jersey State Legislature. Tim served in a variety of roles for the Assembly Democratic Caucus, ending his tenure there as Director of Constituent Relations and as staff for the Banking and Insurance Committee. In those roles, Tim directly managed a staff of 5 and assisted the district office operations of 32 members of the New Jersey General Assembly while providing guidance on auto insurance, health insurance and banking related issues. He left the General Assembly to lead the state and federal government affairs operation for the New Jersey Dental Association. After two years, Tim was given the additional responsibilities of directing membership and communications for the association. Tim has extensive campaign experience at the local, state and federal level. He received a degree in public administration from Trenton State College and is currently pursuing a master’s in that field.
As the director of spiritual outreach for Cancer Treatment Centers of America in Philadelphia, Reverend Drew Angus specializes in the connection between spirituality and health by working with faith-based communities to provide support for people living with cancer. He is an ordained minister in the Christian Reformed Church and an elder at Spirit and Truth Fellowship CRC in Philadelphia, Pa., as well as a certified spiritual director. Drew earned his Master of Arts and Doctor of Ministry degrees from Biblical Theological Seminary. Prior to his years in ministry, Drew worked as an ICU and home care/hospice nurse after earning his Bachelor of Science in Nursing from LaSalle University in Philadelphia.
Honorary Chairs
Representative Jackie Speier
Event Background
Tigerlily Foundation’s Young Women’s Breast Health Day on the Hill was first held in 2009, in response to creating additional advocacy and awareness about the issues young breast cancer survivors faced. The Young Women’s Breast Health Day was launched after Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz signed into law the Breast Cancer Education and Awareness Requires Learning Young (EARLY) Act in 2010, which created an education and outreach campaign administered by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to highlight the breast cancer risks facing young women and women of higher-risk ethnic and racial backgrounds, while empowering them with the tools they need to fight the disease. The EARLY Act also targets health care providers with education and information to ensure they are better equipped to catch breast cancer in young women. The CDC has accomplished numerous objectives through the Advisory Committee, enacted to oversee the work of the EARLY Act. This work includes identifying gaps in education and awareness among young women and health care providers; working to increase the quality of life of YBCS in terms of helping them cope with unique challenges they face, including fertility preservation, and long-term survivorship challenges, implementing social media campaigns to reach young women at risk, implementing a media campaign and through giving grants to organizations focused on helping YBCS.
Event Objectives
To convene Members of Congress, staffers, advocates, breast cancer survivors, healthcare providers, national/local healthcare leaders, media, and community activists for a collaborative conversation to share the important work that is being done to impact breast cancer and young women, since the Breast Cancer Education and Awareness Requires Learning Young (EARLY) Act, spearheaded by Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, was passed. The event also focuses on the work that the Centers for Disease Control Advisory Committee on Breast Cancer in Young Women, national and local breast health groups have accomplished.
YOUNG WOMEN’S BREAST HEALTH DAY ON THE HILL 2016
Highlighting Metastatic Young (MY) LIFE: A Focus on Young Women Living with Metastatic Breast Cancer (MBC)
December 6, 2016
Rayburn House Office Building
Gold Room
Capitol Hill, Washington, DC
Time: 12:00 pm – 3:00 pm
Click here for Sponsorship package and register here.
5th Annual Young Women’s Breast Health Day on the Hill
Hosted in Partnership with Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz
Young Women’s Breast Health Day on the Hill MY LIFE Mission Statement
The mission of Tigerlily Foundation’s 2016 Young Women’s Breast Health Day on the Hill is to focus on creating awareness of Metastatic Breast Cancer (MBC) and the need to drive resources, support, improved quality of life and increased government funding allotted for breast cancer towards MBC research to improve treatment options, quality of life and to ultimately change MBC from a terminal disease to a chronic disease.
Metastatic Breast Cancer Facts
Sponsors
Event Moderator & MC
Shawn Yancy is a News Anchor with WTTG-TV, FOX 5 News in Washington, DC. She has known since third grade that she wanted to be a broadcast journalist. Shawn feels blessed to be living out her dream right here in the nation’s capital. People often ask her what she likes most about her work. Her answer: “It’s the incredible people I meet and the incredible stories they allow us to share.” One of the biggest stories I had to share came on my second day on the job at FOX 5: the September 11th terrorist attacks. She grew up in the Midwest and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Telecommunications from Ball State University. She spent time after college anchoring the news for a country radio station, and learned to line dance, too! Her career path eventually led her to anchor and report at TV stations in Fort Wayne, Indiana and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She’s earned an Edward R. Murrow Award for an investigative series on asbestos at The National Institutes of Health and an Emmy for Outstanding News Anchor in Washington, D.C. When she’s not reporting the news, she works with charitable organizations that promote the well-being of women, children and families. Shawn is an active member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated; and also an abstract artist. In her spare time… you’ll find her painting, reading, interior decorating and spending time with her family.
Special Guests
Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-FLRep. Wasserman Schultz represents Florida’s 23rd Congressional district. In the 113th Congress, as a ranking member of the Legislative Branch Subcommittee, she will serve on the subcommittee that determines the funding level for the entire legislative branch. Wasserman Schultz was also recommended to the House Appropriations Subcommittee on State and Foreign Operations. She also serves as a Chief Deputy Whip where she works to help advance legislation important to the Democratic caucus.
In March 2009, after announcing her own battle with breast cancer, Wasserman Schultz introduced the Education and Awareness Requires Learning Young Act, or EARLY Act (H.R. 1740), a piece of legislation that directs the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to develop and implement a national education campaign about the threat breast cancer poses to all young women, and the particular heightened risks of certain ethnic, cultural and racial groups. This bill became law as part of the Affordable Health Care Act in March, 2010.
In 2011, Rep. Wasserman Schultz joined the Congressional Caucus for Women’s Issues, a bipartisan Members’ organization dedicated to promoting women’s economic, health, legal, and educational interests. Amongst her accomplishments is the passage of the PROTECT Our Children Act, which creates the largest law enforcement effort ever formed for the protection of children, and, the passage of the Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act to combat childhood drowning.
She is committed to lower health care costs, improve the quality of life for our children, protect Social Security and Medicare, and provide a sensible homeland security plan to protect our citizens from the ongoing threat of terror. She continues to fight to ensure that our first responders, our local police and firefighters, have the tools they need to do their jobs. And she continues to take up the fight to give our troops and veterans the equipment and compensation they deserve. The Congresswoman is proud to call South Florida home where she resides with her family in Weston.
Dr. Sheri is a proven visionary, author and highly sought after physician leader. She is a board certified occupational & environmental medicine physician, public health expert, and a breast cancer survivor. Throughout her decades of clinical practice further fueled by her unique perspective as a physician and a patient, she has mastered emotional intelligence and as such she has become “mindful” in the practice of medicine. Her mindfulness has allowed her treatment to transcend medicine.
In addition to helping patients and healthcare practitioners transform how healthcare is delivered and experienced she also shares her story, her voice, her life, and her victory in awe-inspiring and motivational ways. Dr. Sheri brings the unique perspective of being a patient and a physician to her impassioned and captivating speeches. Her remarkable story of pain, loss and change has inspired hundreds of thousands of people across the country and abroad. She has delivered more than 500 keynote speeches and private seminars throughout the country and internationally. She has been featured in The New England Journal of Medicine, MORE, Essence, Oxygen, Today’s Chicago Woman, Weinberg Magazine, The Chicago Tribune and elsewhere. She has also been featured in hundreds of television, radio and newspaper interviews reaching millions around the country as an expert in helping individuals unlock their potential, boost their self-esteem, set new directions, and prepare for life-long achievements.
As an expert in transformative medicine, a natural extension of her own personal vision and mission in life is to educate consumers that healthcare and being healthy should be experienced joyfully through consistently positive, personalized and productive interactions with their healthcare practitioners. Dr. Sheri is the CMO & Chief Development Officer of Surgical & Aesthetic Supplies, a company providing post-surgical garments and DME, including compression garments for the treatment of lymphedema, of exceptional quality and unsurpassed value.
Dr. Prentiss recently began her journey of acquiring her Masters in Theological Studies from Liberty University, She has obtained the following degrees: BA, with honors, Northwestern University 1989; MD, with honors, Loyola Stritch School of Medicine 1993; MPH, with a 5.0 GPA University of Illinois School of Public Health 1998; CPE (Certified Physician Executive), CCMM 2007. She is a member of the American College of Occupational & Environmental Medicine as well as a Fellow, past Director of the Board, and CPE Capstone teaching Fellow of the American Association for Physician Leadership. She is licensed to practice medicine in the states of IL and FL and has an administrative license in TX.
Maimah Karmo is the Founder and CEO of the Tigerlily Foundation and an eight year survivor of breast cancer. On February 28, 2006, at 4:45 p.m., Maimah was diagnosed with Stage 2 breast cancer. She had no family history of breast cancer; and was only 32-years old. While undergoing her second round of chemotherapy, she made a promise to God that if she survived, she would create an organization to educate, empower, advocate for and support young women affected by breast cancer. After her second treatment, Tigerlily Foundation was born. Beginning in chemotherapy, Maimah grew Tigerlily Foundation from a concept to a national organization, with more than 300 volunteers nationwide, providing breast health, wellness and transformational programs to young women in more than 43 states.
In 2010, she received the Congressional Black Caucus Leadership in Advocacy Award, and the Running Start “Women to Watch Award”. In October 2011, Maimah was appointed to the Federal Advisory Committee on Breast Cancer in Young Women, a committee established by the Affordable Care Act, on which she works to develop initiatives to increase knowledge of breast health and breast cancer, for women under the age of 40 and those at heightened risk for developing the disease. She is regularly called upon to speak at/moderate panels on Capitol Hill, as a leader in the world of breast health, in addition to being a speaker at various leadership events focusing on women, youth, health, wellness, politics, advocacy and empowerment. Maimah has dedicated her life to transformation women around the world. She recently travelled to Antigua, on a breast health education campaign. As a native of Liberia, West Africa, she is embarking on a global women’s health campaign to educate women of color, minorities and women of all races about health and advocacy.
She is an author, and speaker, and she has appeared in various media outlets, to include O, the Oprah Magazine, Essence, Ladies Home Journal, Cosmopolitan, Seventeen, Good Housekeeping, Harper’s Bazaar, Marie Claire, Redbook, Traditional Home Magazine and Cancer, Cure Magazine and more. She has also been featured on Fox 5, ABC 7, CBS, the Oprah Winfrey Show, Good Morning America, MSNBC and national radio stations. In 2009, Maimah was awarded a L’Oreal Paris’ Woman of Worth award, among others. Most dear to her heart is her 12-year old daughter, Noelle. Noelle is now an advocate in her own right, hosting a national event, , called Pajama Glam Party, where she engages girls to become advocates and to have healthy lifestyles. She speaks to the media and is interviewed on her perspectives on youth advocacy, girls health, and leadership.
In 2010, Maimah published her memoir, Fearless: Awakening to my Life’s Purpose Through Breast Cancer, which was a best seller. She is also a sought after speaker, presenter and panelist. In 2013, she founded Bliss Magazine, a quarterly publication that inspires others to live their soul purpose.
Megan King was named the Tigerlily Foundation’s 2015 Ambassador of the Year Award after chairing the TL 2014 Pink Boa 5K, raising over $35,000. She has been consistently active in the non-profit community since entering into college in 2009. Megan was president of the Enactus Chapter (a nonprofit, entrepreneurial student organization) and became a nationally ranked collegiate level competitive presenter. While president of Enactus she focused her attentions on two tiers, Community Support and Haitian Outreach.
Megan worked to improve and support the local community through strengthening small businesses by providing social media training, financial seminars and green audits. As well as coordinating multiple hunger-relief initiatives for the local Food Bank through events such as “Stuff A Truck”, “Cans Can Fight Hunger”, and hosting an Empty Bowl Dinner during the college’s annual Virginia Hunger Symposium. Megan’s Haitian Outreach was focused on fundraising, planning and implementing of the building of an earthquake resistant school and home for the disabled. Furthermore, she led fundraising for small businesses loans, cooperatives and miscellaneous health/ general community well-being programs. Megan traveled to Haiti in 2011 with her team to open the school for the disabled, meet with entrepreneurs to provide small business micro-loans and survey for future programs.
As she continues her involvement in the non-profit community and works to complete her studies in Communications and Public Relations, Megan has joined the Tigerlily Team as the Development Coordinator working to secure grants for the TL current and future programs and events.
Aminah Keats, ND, FABNO
Licensed naturopathic physician, Aminah Keats, ND, FABNO, is board certified in naturopathic oncology and has specialized in integrative oncology for over 10 years. Her goal with each patient is to create a personalized treatment plan that safely works to reduce side effects, support immune function and offer a cancer-fighting benefit to patients who are actively undergoing conventional oncology treatment. Dr. Keats also works with patients who are at high risk for cancer and those seeking naturopathic care for cancer prevention. She utilizes vitamin and nutrient therapy, botanical medicine, diet and lifestyle counseling in creating an individualized plan for each patient.
Dr. Keats received her undergraduate degree in Psychology from Spelman College and completed pre-medical coursework at Rutgers University. Before completing a two-year, hospital-based residency in integrative oncology at Cancer Treatment Centers of America, Dr. Keats received her naturopathic doctorate from the University of Bridgeport College of Naturopathic Medicine. Following the completion of her residency, Dr. Keats continued her work at Cancer Treatment Centers of America where she worked as a naturopathic oncology clinician and director of the naturopathic medicine department. She currently works in private practice at Capital Integrative Health in Bethesda, Maryland.
Dr. Keats holds her naturopathic medical license in the District of Columbia, Vermont and Maryland. She is a member of the Maryland Naturopathic Doctors Association and the Oncology Association of Naturopathic Physicians.
Dr. Rajendra has been practicing medical oncology and hematology in Loudoun County since 1991. He attended St. John’s Medical College in Bangalore, India. After completing his internal medicine training at Grant Hospital in Chicago, Illinois, he subsequently completed his fellowship in Medical Oncology and Hematology at Washington Hospital Center in Washington, D.C. During his training, he conducted research on breast cancer, lung cancer and ovarian cancer. Dr. Rajendra is Board Certified in internal medicine and medical oncology. He founded Oncology/Hematology of Loudoun and Reston in 1997.
Dr. Rajendra’s deep respect for oncology patients has inspired him to base his practice on a highly individualized approach wherein each patient’s treatment is tailored to best address their medical and personal needs. He welcomes the involvement of patients and their families in treatment planning, thus ensuring that patients are given proper support during their care.
Dr. Rajendra has earned many accolades for his work. In 2014, he was the recipient of the Inspire Award from the Tigerlily Foundation, an organization dedicated to empowering and supporting young women with breast cancer. He has been selected as a Top Doctor in Washingtonian Magazine’s annual survey of top physicians as chosen by their peers in 2008, 2012, 2014, and 2015; named one of the area’s Super Doctors® by Key Professional Media, Inc, and honored as one of the Washington, D.C. area’s “Outstanding Physicians” by Washington Consumer Checkbook magazine. He has been recognized as a Staff Star at Inova Loudoun Hospital, and served for many years on the Cancer Committee. The November 25, 2009 issue of Talk Loudoun featured him in the the article “Fighting Cancer: On Call With Dr. Rajendra.” Dr. Rajendra has twice been voted one of Loudoun County’s favorite medical specialists in Leesburg Today’s “Best of Loudoun” poll.
Dr. Rajendra, a husband and father of three sons, enjoys jogging, reading, and travel. He has been a part of the Loudoun community for over two decades.
Kelli Parker is no stranger to breast cancer having been treated for early-stage disease twice by the age of 31, but after metastatic progression to bone in 2014, she was in uncharted territory. Convinced she would soon die, she fell into a deep depression, remaining there for 5 months. Kelli lost 30 pounds, refused to eat, shower, and eventually leave her bed. She checked herself into an emotional rehab facility where she received intensive therapy, structure, and began to share her story. To her amazement, the “failure” she saw as her metastatic progression became a model of living graciously with adversity and soon, her physical symptoms began to wane.
Kelli returned to work in Walmart Treasury and built a network of metastatic patients, advocates, and researchers. Helping others connect to exceptional responders on the same treatment or with pathologically similar disease gave her a sense of purpose and took her mind off of her own diagnosis. She soon had her first scan that showed no evidence of disease (NED) and then discovered METAvivor. Kelli immediately identified with their mission of funding better long term treatment options for metastatic breast cancer (MBC) patients. She connected with board members eventually meeting them at the Capitol Hill Die In in October 2015. Kelli envisioned a fundraising gala, a masquerade, a METSquerade ball! She and her husband Zac partnered with Patrick and Lisa Quinn who lived nearby in Springdale, AR and the First Annual Northwest Arkansas METSquerade was born. They raised over $100,000 in one night and aim to more than double that next year.
Kelli is outspoken on social media. Her candid posts featured on Its About Time MBC, Stupid Dumb Breast Cancer, Live from Stage IV, and Tigerlilly provide a rare glimpse at life with MBC especially in women under 40.
Nearly 2 years into her MBC diagnosis, Kelli remains NED and passionately committed to improving the quality and quantity of MBC patient lives. Kelli, her husband Zac and their daughter Autumn reside in Northwest Arkansas and fully believe that through organizations like METAvivor, Tigerlilly, MBCN, and patient advocates, we’ll witness improvement in metastatic outcomes in our lifetime.
Maggie Kudirka began dancing at age four and later studied the Vaganova syllabus with Olga Tozyiakova, Svetlana Kravtsova, and Vadim Pijicov in her hometown of Ellicott City, Maryland. She graduated magna cum laude from Towson University where she performed principal roles in Swan Lake, Giselle, and Paquita. She danced professionally with Ballet ADI under the direction of Runqiao Du dancing principal classical roles in addition to creating numerous contemporary roles. Her many awards include the $5,000 Rising Star Award for Emerging Performing Artists, a silver medal from the Youth America Grand Prix (YAGP) Philadelphia Competition, finalist at YAGP New York nationals, and full merit scholarships to the Joffrey summer intensive and ballet trainee programs. In 2013, she joined the Joffrey Concert Group where she worked with Francesca Corkle and danced featured roles in works by Gerald Arpino, Donald Byrd, Larry Keigwin, Shawn Hounsell, Africa Guzman, and Davis Robertson.
After receiving a stage 4 breast cancer diagnosis in June 2014, Maggie took a leave of absence from the Joffrey Concert Group to undergo treatment. On June 24, 2014, she launched the Bald Ballerina Facebook page to share her cancer journey with family and friends and to raise awareness that breast cancer can also strike fit young women with a healthy lifestyle. Bald Ballerina has since grown into a social media movement with over 6,900 followers from over 40 different countries throughout the world. Her story has appeared in TODAY.com, the Daily Mail.com, Vogue.com, Dance Spirit Magazine and many others. A feature story created by WBAL-TV in Baltimore was broadcast by NBC affiliates across the USA. She currently is an advocate for Living Beyond Breast Cancer, METAvivor, and the Dancers Care Foundation. She travels throughout the United States giving master ballet classes and speaking to young dancers about metastatic breast cancer.
Dikla Benzeevi is a fourteen-year survivor of advanced metastatic stage-four breast cancer, originally diagnosed in her early 30s. Since her diagnosis, she has dedicated her time to breast cancer outreach and advocacy – assisting and guiding women with breast cancer and their loved ones through this difficult journey.
Through extensive networking, Dikla built one of the largest West Coast support and informational networks for young women affected by breast cancer in the mid-2000s. Sensing a similar need with the metastatic breast cancer community twelve years ago, and through her own experience undergoing 13 different cancer treatments and breast, spine and lung surgeries, Dikla expanded her network to offer extensive personalized support, resource and patient navigation services for metastatic breast cancer patients. As part of that network, she founded the largest support group on Facebook for metastatic breast cancer thrivers with over 1400 members and helped create and organize an annual MBC conference for MBC thrivers and their families in Southern California, a region of over 20 million residents.
Dikla is featured in various books and publications including Self Magazine, People Magazine and Los Angeles Magazine, is frequently interviewed on television and radio shows, and speaks at many public engagements nationally and internationally on issues related to breast health and breast cancer.
Dikla is also involved in many other outreach activities. She is a peer match counselor with Living Beyond Breast Cancer, Imerman Angels, ABCD, SHARE Cancer Support, and the Young Survival Coalition among others. Dikla served as a board member of the Susan G. Komen For The Cure Young Women National Advisory Council and is currently a board member of several breast cancer organizations including the Metastatic Breast Cancer Advisory Committee for Susan G. Komen for the Cure Los Angeles County Affiliate and the Noreen Fraser Foundation. She was honored as a Lifetime Television “Stop Breast Cancer for Life” Hero and her story was featured on the Jim Lehrer NewsHour and the Institute of Medicine (IOM) Report: Delivering High Quality Cancer Care: Charting a New Course for a System in Crisis.
Through her own long term survivorship and extensive knowledge of resources, Dikla provides hope and guidance for women dealing with breast cancer, and promotes greater public awareness of the needs of breast cancer thrivers. She advocates for greater funding for and creation of more comprehensive support services, for greater research funding into life extending and quality of life maintaining cancer treatments and ultimately for a cure for early and advanced stage breast cancer.
She does this all on a volunteer basis while undergoing treatment herself. She is passionate about promoting a message of hope – a message that firmly attests that with a great treatment plan, a proactive and informed approach, a positive and nurturing support network, healthy lifestyle habits, and a little bit of luck – anyone diagnosed with breast cancer can live long and well.
Her ultimate wish is that we can all put breast cancer behind us as a disease of the past, or at least have it be a chronic condition with a normal life span and minimal effect on our quality of life. We all deserve the full and meaningful life we strive to live.
Jamie Holloway earned her PhD from Georgetown University studying breast cancer progression in 2004. Interacting with clinicians who care for cancer patients, she gained an appreciation for the interaction between scientists, doctors, and patients. After completing her graduate studies, she left the lab to stay at home with her newborn daughter. When her second child was headed to kindergarten, instead of restarting her career, she was diagnosed with stage 2 triple negative breast cancer. She underwent eight rounds of intensive chemotherapy and a bilateral mastectomy in early 2013, and has been without evidence of disease since.
Jamie is now the Patient Advocate for the Metastatic Breast Cancer Project at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, providing support for the education and outreach activities of the project. In addition to her role at the Broad Institute, Jamie volunteers with the Georgetown Breast Cancer Advocates and is a Precision Medicine Advocate for Cure Forward. She speaks regularly to both scientific and lay audiences and is a contributing author for Cure Magazine. She and her husband live with their two children in Arlington, Virginia.
Elissa Bantug was a two-time cancer survivor by the age of 25. She has become an advocate for patients living with this disease appearing in television interviews, newspapers, magazines, and the radio speaking out about the barriers and challenges they often face including survivorship in early and advanced breast cancer care, long-term side effects, patient/caregiver/provider communication, improvements in quality and outcomes of care, technology as a communication tool, the mind/body connection, and health living after breast cancer. Ms. Bantug is involved in several communication and research initiatives including national guideline development, health education for patients and providers, survivorship care planning, and improvement of health outcomes. She has an undergraduate degree from Georgetown University in Women’s Health and a graduate degree from the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health in Health Education and Communication. Ms. Bantug is the Program Manager of Breast Cancer Communication, Education, and Survivorship at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center, oversees the Breast Cancer Survivorship Program and is co-directs the Young Women with Breast Cancer Program.
Kelly Lange has worked extensively as a patient advocate since her stage I breast cancer diagnosis in 1995. Kelly was re-diagnosed with regional recurrence in 2000 and has been in treatment for metastatic breast cancer since 2002. She has served on the Board of Directors at METAvivor since shortly after its founding in 2009. She has served as President of the organization and now serves as Treasurer.
Kelly was raised on Maryland’s Kent Island and received a BS in Chemical Engineering from Johns Hopkins University in 1986. After two years in plastics at Armstrong, Kelly took a position with Bendix Field Engineering Corporation in 1988 as a software engineer. There, she developed antenna control and orbital mechanics software for NASA and Navy antennas, including the Naval Academy’s S-band telemetry antenna. In 1994 Kelly moved to Northrop Grumman where she developed software infrastructure for torpedo detection and synthetic aperture sonar systems.
Kelly lives in Annapolis, MD with her husband, Michael, where they enjoy boating on the Chesapeake Bay. When she can squeeze in the time, Kelly also enjoys knitting and quilting.
Timothy Clark serves as the the Senior Government Affairs and Advocacy Official for Eisai, Inc. In that role, he leads federal and state government affairs, policy development and oversees the advocacy partnerships for Eisai in the US. Immediately prior to joining Eisai, he served in various policy and government affairs roles with Sanofi for 12 years.
Prior to entering the pharmaceutical industry in 2002, Tim spent a decade working in and with the New Jersey State Legislature. Tim served in a variety of roles for the Assembly Democratic Caucus, ending his tenure there as Director of Constituent Relations and as staff for the Banking and Insurance Committee. In those roles, Tim directly managed a staff of 5 and assisted the district office operations of 32 members of the New Jersey General Assembly while providing guidance on auto insurance, health insurance and banking related issues. He left the General Assembly to lead the state and federal government affairs operation for the New Jersey Dental Association. After two years, Tim was given the additional responsibilities of directing membership and communications for the association. Tim has extensive campaign experience at the local, state and federal level.
He received a degree in public administration from Trenton State College and is currently pursuing a master’s in that field.
As the director of spiritual outreach for Cancer Treatment Centers of America in Philadelphia, Reverend Drew Angus specializes in the connection between spirituality and health by working with faith-based communities to provide support for people living with cancer. He is an ordained minister in the Christian Reformed Church and an elder at Spirit and Truth Fellowship CRC in Philadelphia, Pa., as well as a certified spiritual director. Drew earned his Master of Arts and Doctor of Ministry degrees from Biblical Theological Seminary. Prior to his years in ministry, Drew worked as an ICU and home care/hospice nurse after earning his Bachelor of Science in Nursing from LaSalle University in Philadelphia.
Honorary Chairs
Representative Jackie Speier
Event Background
Tigerlily Foundation’s Young Women’s Breast Health Day on the Hill was first held in 2009, in response to creating additional advocacy and awareness about the issues young breast cancer survivors faced. The Young Women’s Breast Health Day was launched after Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz signed into law the Breast Cancer Education and Awareness Requires Learning Young (EARLY) Act in 2010, which created an education and outreach campaign administered by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to highlight the breast cancer risks facing young women and women of higher-risk ethnic and racial backgrounds, while empowering them with the tools they need to fight the disease. The EARLY Act also targets health care providers with education and information to ensure they are better equipped to catch breast cancer in young women. The CDC has accomplished numerous objectives through the Advisory Committee, enacted to oversee the work of the EARLY Act. This work includes identifying gaps in education and awareness among young women and health care providers; working to increase the quality of life of YBCS in terms of helping them cope with unique challenges they face, including fertility preservation, and long-term survivorship challenges, implementing social media campaigns to reach young women at risk, implementing a media campaign and through giving grants to organizations focused on helping YBCS.
Event Objectives
To convene Members of Congress, staffers, advocates, breast cancer survivors, healthcare providers, national/local healthcare leaders, media, and community activists for a collaborative conversation to share the important work that is being done to impact breast cancer and young women, since the Breast Cancer Education and Awareness Requires Learning Young (EARLY) Act, spearheaded by Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, was passed. The event also focuses on the work that the Centers for Disease Control Advisory Committee on Breast Cancer in Young Women, national and local breast health groups have accomplished.
Details