Judges 2022

Andrea Ferris is President and CEO of LUNGevity Foundation. LUNGevity Foundation is one of the preeminent lung cancer organizations focused on improving outcomes for people with lung cancer through research, education, policy initiatives, and support and engagement for patients, survivors, and caregivers. LUNGevity seeks to make an immediate impact on quality of life and survivorship for everyone touched by the disease—while promoting health equity by addressing disparities throughout the care continuum.

Dr. Colin Pritchard has devoted his professional career to advancing precision oncology and, specifically, to developing innovative molecular diagnostics for detecting mutations that guide therapeutic decision-making for cancer patients. More than 100,000 patients have directly benefited from clinical tests using assays developed, validated, and interpreted by him and his team. Dr. Pritchard is a Professor and Head of the Genetics Division in the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology at the University of Washington in Seattle, Director of Precision Diagnostics for the Brotman Baty Institute for Precision Medicine, and Co-Director of the Genetics and Solid Tumors Laboratory at the UW Medical Center.

Ellen Miller-Sonet leads the strategic initiatives and national policy agenda for CancerCare, the leading national organization providing free, professional support services and information to help people manage the emotional, practical and financial challenges of cancer. She is currently leading CancerCare’s Patient Values Initiative, a multi-pronged, long-term project to reframe the national healthcare policy dialogue so that patients’ values and priorities are incorporated into treatment decision making. She is a member of the National Minority Quality Forum’s Diverse Cancer Communities Working Group, and she collaborates with several national initiatives that focus on addressing disparities in cancer care.

Dr. Leigh Boehmer is the Chief Medical Officer for the Association of Community Cancer Centers (ACCC). In this role, he is responsible for assessing educational needs and designing interventions for multidisciplinary cancer care teams. He also serves as a liaison with patient advocacy organizations, policy experts, and governmental agencies to advance the objectives of ACCC. He has worked in both in- and outpatient medical oncology settings, spanning large academic to rural community oncology environments. His current areas of concentration include building capacity for community oncology research and mitigating cancer care disparities.

As Chief Mission Officer for Cancer Support Community San Francisco Bay Area, Margaret Stauffer manages Cancer Support Community’s high-quality, comprehensive support services. She develops new programs, provides clinical supervision to therapists and counseling interns, conducts program evaluations, serves as a community resource, and conducts outreach through community and professional presentations to increase accessibility to all people impacted by cancer. Stauffer is a nationally known trainer of the evidence-based program “Open to Options” and as a noted psychosocial-oncology expert. Since she began at Cancer Support Community, she has substantially grown both the number of individuals served and program utilization. Stauffer enjoys travel, reading, and daily walks in the healing space of nature.

Paris Thomas is the Director of Program Operations at Equal Hope, and she has a wealth of hands-on experience managing multiple healthcare projects, programs, and services. She is responsible for the operational oversight of all aspects and activities crucial in supporting the mission of Equal Hope. Paris provides staff leadership and development, grant management and budgetary oversight, as well as program leadership and development. She creates strong and cooperative relationships with key staff members within Equal Care (quality consortium), Equal Voice (policy and advocacy), and Equal Hope (outreach, education, and navigation) programs to work productively and effectively. Paris promotes Equal Hope’s mission-based culture-driven environment to make significant progress in reducing health disparities for communities of color.

Pamela Tarapchak has worked in the healthcare publishing field for more than 20 years. Currently, she is Managing Editor of Oncology Times, a publication that reports essential clinical news with independent analysis for today’s oncologists, hematologists, and other cancer care professionals to optimize patient care and outcomes. The award-winning publication published by Wolters Kluwer Health appears biweekly in print—mailed to approximately 40,000 readers—with unique online features, podcasts, and continuing education. Prior to her current role, Tarapchak held various editorial positions covering the healthcare fields of nursing and laboratory medicine.

For 12 years, Unite for HER (UFH) has supported more than 9,799 patients and delivered over 75,000 integrative treatments and, in 2021, expanded its programming nationwide. When Susan Weldon was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2004, she searched for information on therapies that would complement standard medical treatments. She discovered a lack of easily accessible resources on nutrition, medical acupuncture, oncology massage, meditation/yoga, counseling, and other patient-care resources that enhance one’s health and wellbeing. Inspired by her experience, Susan founded UFH to support funding and delivering of integrative therapies to breast- and ovarian-cancer patients at no personal cost.

Tomma Hargraves is a lung cancer survivor and patient advocate. In 2006, she was diagnosed with stage 3b non-small cell adenocarcinoma lung cancer and, after a successful outcome from a clinical trial, became active in advancing the importance of lung cancer awareness and treatment by raising funds for research and patient support. She has served on the Board of Directors for the Lung Cancer Initiative of North Carolina and advocated for a gas-card program to improve patient care access. She also serves as a Patient Lay Navigator at the Lineberger Cancer Center at UNC-Chapel Hill and serves on the Patient and Family Advisory Board. Tomma lives in Raleigh, North Carolina, with her husband, Bob, and chocolate lab, Miss Charlie Kenan Chocolat.