Through Triage Cancer’s Speakers Bureau, cancer centers, hospitals, cancer organizations, and other groups that are coordinating educational events or cancer conferences can be connected with expert speakers on various cancer survivorship issues.
Triage Cancer's Speakers Bureau also includes cancer survivors and caregivers who have experience sharing their cancer journey with a variety of audiences. If you are planning an event, it is a good idea to request speakers as early as possible. Some of our speakers are often booked months in advance.
Below you can learn more about each speaker, sort speakers by particular areas of expertise, request a speaker directly, and read about potential topics that you may want to include in your next event!
Rita Abdallah , LISW-S, ACSW
Rita Abdallah believes that we each deserve to achieve our greatness. As a social worker who built her career caring for those dealing with the toughest struggles of their lives, Rita has learned how to help others create a joyful, spirited, and resilient life.
As Founder of Turning Point Services, Ltd., Rita researches, writes, consults, and speaks on topics that help cancer-care professionals provide a better experience for their patients.…
Jennifer Bires , LICSW
Jennifer Bires is a Clinical Social Worker and Manager for Patient Centered Care at the GW Cancer Center in Washington, DC.
Jennifer graduated with her Masters in Social Work from Washington University, St. Louis in 2009. She specializes in working with families, young adults and patients with advanced disease.
She manages a team responsible for ensuring the highest quality of life possible for both patients and family members, taking into account social, familial, economic and logistical needs.…
Sage Bolte , PhD, LCSW, OSW-C
Dr. Sage Bolte lives in Northern Virginia with her husband Jeff and their three children. She is a licensed clinical social worker who specializes in how cancer and its treatments affect the sexual self and relationships in persons of all ages, at all stages of cancer survivorship. She has done numerous national and international presentations and has also contributed to a number of publications on this topic.…
Katie Brown
Katie Brown is an 18 year cancer survivor and has worked in nonprofit and lung cancer patient advocacy for over 10 years. She is he Vice President, Support and Survivorship Programs for LUNGevity and is a certified Patient Navigator.
Her transition from the corporate world to nonprofit happened in November of 2002 shortly after her father’s small cell lung cancer diagnosis.…
Emily Drake , MA
Emily is an innovative public health leader. A graduate of Acadia University’s Honours Psychology program, and Dalhousie University’s Master’s in Health Promotion program, Emily has been a contributor to the Huffington Post (US), the BMJ Blog, the Cancer Knowledge Network and Oncology Exchange. She has also published in:
- Journal of Adolescent and Young Adult Oncology
- Current Hematologic Malignancy Reports
- Journal of Global Oncology
- Journal of Medical Internet Research
- Psycho-Oncology
- Journal of Psychosocial Oncology Research and Practice
- Journal of Supportive Care in Cancer
- Pediatric Blood & Cancer
- Journal of Clinical Nursing
- Journal of Human Lactation
- The International Journal of Health, Wellness and Society
A social innovator, in 2013, Emily co-founded and continues to grow Adolescent and Young Adult Cancer Societal Movement (#AYACSM) – an active, multi-disciplinary, global community that has changed the way stakeholders interact and share information regarding adolescents and young adults with cancer.…
Allie Finkel , LCSW
Licensed Clinical Social Worker and Co-founder of Kind Minds Therapy
Allie Finkel is a licensed clinical social worker and therapist specializing in helping individuals and families cope with illness, anxiety, grief & loss, and parenting challenges. She received her Masters in Social Work from Columbia University and a post-graduate certification in child and family therapy from New York University. She has advanced and specialized training in palliative care, bereavement support, psychosocial oncology, and critical incident stress debriefing.…
Ann Fry , MSW
Ann Fry is a professional speaker and an organizational/executive coach. She built this practice by first being a psychotherapist, a health-care administrator, and a college professor. For the last 17 years, Ann has worked around the country speaking, training and coaching in corporations, non-profits, government agencies and at professional association conferences. She brings inspiration for change to her audiences, as well as her sense of humor.…
Eva Grayzel
Eva Grayzel, a nationally recognized keynote speaker and motivational storyteller, delivers compelling stories about the patient perspective. A non-healing sore on her tongue was eventually diagnosed as stage IV oral cancer. Tragically ironic for a storyteller! The radical surgery and treatment was devastating, but her outcome was extraordinary.
Silence was not an option. She couldn’t stand by and allow what happened to her, happen to others.…
Heather Hall
Heather Hall is a national cancer advocate, speaker and writer.
A three-time cancer survivor, Heather is focused on living life to the fullest. Diagnosed with osteosarcoma at 21, melanoma at 27 and breast cancer at 43, she is committed to sharing her story to help others facing this disease and working to make a positive difference in the fight against cancer.…
Kirk Hartley , Esq.
Kirk Hartley is a trial lawyer and consultant with a passion for the intersections between law and science, including the medical and legal principles involved in many aspects of cancer. Kirk’s pro bono legal work is focused on articles, presentations and/or litigation regarding the rights of persons with cancer with respect to access to diagnostics and therapies.…
Loriana Hernandez-Aldama
Loriana Hernandez-Aldama is a cancer survivor and an Emmy award-winning journalist with more than 20 years of on-air television experience, anchoring prime-time and morning news, as well as health/medical reporting on a national
and local level.
Loriana's unique broadcasting talent has taken her across the country from CNN/CNN Headline News as well as to local stations in California and Texas (Dallas/Austin).…
Carissa Hodgson , LCSW, OSW-C
Carissa Hodgson, LCSW, OSW-C is the Director of Programs and Community Outreach at Bright Spot Network, which provides a program of support to parents with cancer who have young children. She has over 14 years of clinical and program experience working with families facing cancer. Prior to her position at Bright Spot Network she was the Program Manager at Gilda’s Club Madison for 13 years.…
Laura Holmes Haddad
Laura Holmes Haddad is a breast cancer survivor, writer, and speaker from the San Francisco Bay Area. A graduate of Smith College and the California Culinary Academy, Laura was a cookbook editor and writer before refocusing on cancer and self-advocacy.
Laura was diagnosed with Stage IV inflammatory breast cancer in 2012 at the age of 37 and is currently NED (no evidence of disease).…
Jonny Imerman
Jonny Imerman is a young adult cancer survivor who strives to make sure no one fights cancer without the support of someone who has already triumphed over the disease. After being diagnosed with testicular cancer at the age of 26, Jonny decided to found Imerman Angels, a non-profit organization, which carefully matches a person touched by cancer (a cancer fighter or survivor) with someone who has fought and survived the same type of cancer (a Mentor Angel).…
Anne Katz , Phd, RN, FAAN
Dr. Anne Katz is the certified sexuality counselor at CancerCare Manitoba and Clinical Nurse Specialist at the Manitoba Prostate Centre. In these roles she counsels men and women with a history of cancer who are experiencing sexual and relationship challenges. She also supports couples through recurrence and treatment decisions at that point. She is the fertility preservation counselor for the organization and also runs a sexual rehabilitation program for women after radiation therapy.…
Carolyn Katzin , MS, CNS, MNT
Carolyn Katzin was a nutrition expert with twenty-eight years of experience in clinical nutrition with an emphasis on optimizing health and wellness. She specialized in the fields of integrative oncology and genomics. Carolyn was President of Fountain Resources, Inc., a nutrition consulting company. Carolyn provided individual counseling for cancer patients at UCLA’s Simms/Mann Center for Integrative Oncology
Carolyn received her graduate degree and completed her internship at UCLA.…
Fitz Koehler
Fitz Koehler, M.S.E.S.S. is a recent breast cancer survivor and one of the most prominent and electrifying fitness experts and race announcers in America. As the voice of the Los Angeles Marathon, Philadelphia Marathon, Big Sur Marathon, DC Wonder Woman Run Series and more, Fitz brings big structure, energy and joy to sport. She’s passionate about guiding others to live better and longer with Fitzness and has done so through national media outlets and corporations like Disney, Tropicana, Oakley and Office Depot.…
Shayna Komar , RD
Shayna Komar, RD, is a Registered and Licensed Dietitian based in Atlanta, Georgia. She completed her undergraduate degree in Nutrition, Foods, and Exercise at Virginia Tech and her dietetic internship at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland. Shayna currently contracts with Cancer Wellness of Piedmont Hospital where she provides individual nutrition counseling, cooking classes and group lectures for cancer patients and caregivers.…
Julie Lanford , MPH, RD, CSO, LDN
Julie Lanford MPH, RD, CSO, LDN, is the Wellness Director for Cancer Services, a non-profit in Winston-Salem, NC. She is a registered dietitian, licensed nutritionist and board certified specialist in oncology nutrition with over 10 years experience working in oncology.
Lanford developed http://www.CancerDietitian.com a healthy living web site for Cancer Services that translates evidence based nutrition guidelines into consumer friendly messages for everyday life.…
Julie Larson , LCSW
Julie Larson, LCSW is a psychotherapist in New York City. In her practice she works primarily with people under the age of 40 around issues of wellness, loss and life transitions. Prior to establishing her private practice, Julie was the Young Adult Program Director at CancerCare for 6 years. In that capacity, she develop a national program inclusive of both age specific support services and educational materials focused on the distinct issues faced by young adults impacted by a cancer diagnosis.…
Jenn McRobbie
Jenn McRobbie is a life coach, speaker and author. Jenn has an extremely varied work background; from working as an Internet Communication Specialist for a recruiting company to representing oil and gas marketers in public service commission hearings to serving in the Army Reserves and Virginia National Guard as a Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Warfare Officer.…
Jill Meyer-Lippert , RDH
Jill Meyer-Lippert, RDH began her dental career in 1992 as a Dental Assistant and Receptionist. At the same time, her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. Helplessly watching her mother suffer horribly with oral side effects from chemotherapy, she developed a strong interest in the oral concerns of cancer survivors.
Jill earned her degree and became licensed as a Registered Dental Hygienist in 1994 and continued to pursue knowledge to help this very underserved area of cancer care.…
Joyce Mikal–Flynn , Ed.D., FNP, BSN, MSN
Dr. Joyce Mikal-Flynn received a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from University of San Francisco (1976), a Family Nurse Practitioner Certificate from University of California, Davis (1981) and a Masters’ of Science in Nursing at California State University Sacramento (1992), publishing the thesis: A Phenomenological Investigation of Near Death Event Survivors. In 2007 she completed her Doctor of Education with a dissertation entitled: Transforming Life Crisis: Stories of Metahabilitation After Catastrophic Life Events.…
Melanie Nix
Melanie A. Nix, a triple-negative breast cancer survivor, uses her endowments as a storyteller,
coach, and celebrator to bring joy and fulfillment to the lives of everyone she touches. The chief
visionary of Diagnosis to Destiny, she shares lessons learned surviving cancer that can pave the
road from diagnosis to destiny. Melanie is a multimedia storyteller who uses a variety of media
to share her uplifting and inspiring story as well as deliver illuminating messages.…
Omar Ortega , JD
Educational History
BA 1988 American History – State University of New York at Albany
MA 1989 20th Century American History – State University of New York at Albany
JD 1992 – George Washington University
Alison Sachs , MSW, OSW-C
Recognized nationally for her leadership in the field of Oncology Social Work, Alison has served on the Board of the Association of Oncology Social Work and presently sits on the The American Cancer Society’s Western Division, Desert-Coastal Region Scientific Advisory Board of the Go2Foundation For Lung Cancer; The Medical Advisory Board of Zero-The End of Prostate Cancer; and our local Desert Cancer Foundation.…
Ali Schaffer , LCSW
Ali Schaffer is an expert re-framer, dot-connector and noticer. She has a private counseling practice in Nashville, TN and provides individual and group therapy for adults navigating life transitions, coping with health challenges and desiring to live more fully. Since 2003, Ali has worked directly with people impacted by cancer across the cancer care continuum in various clinical settings.…
Leslie Schover , PhD
Leslie R. Schover, PhD is a clinical psychologist specializing in cancer-related problems with sexuality or fertility. She received a PhD in clinical psychology from UCLA in 1979. Her dissertation was supported by a Woodrow Wilson Research Grant in Women’s Studies. She completed a postdoctoral fellowship in sex therapy and sex research at SUNY at Stony Brook in 1981.…
T.J. Sharpe
T.J. Sharpe is a Stage IV melanoma patient sharing his journey through cancer in his Patient #1 Blog. Diagnosed in 2012 with tumors in multiple organs, he has undergone six surgeries and four immunotherapies across two clinical trials. The initial failures, and subsequent response, have been chronicled in his posts. He is a keynote speaker and consultant to the biopharma and clinical research industries, working with major pharmaceutical corporations and as a patient advisor to TransCelerate to bring an educated patient voice as a true stakeholder in challenging healthcare's status quo. …
Cathy Skinner
As a leading expert in exercise and wellness for cancer survivors since 2008, Cathy Skinner (CEO and Founder of Thrivors) was the first certified American College of Sports Medicine Cancer Exercise Specialist (ACSM) in Minnesota and a Certified Physical Activity for Lymphedema (PALs for Life) specialist. Cathy's book, the Introduction to Exercise for Cancer Recovery™ (2013) was utilized as a framework for the mobile technology platform, THRIVORS™.…
Brad Zebrack , PhD, MSW, MPH
Dr. Brad Zebrack is Professor of Social Work and Member, University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center, Division of Cancer Prevention and Control. Dr. Zebrack has clinical social work experience in both pediatric and adult oncology, and is keenly aware of the supportive care needs of cancer patients and their families, as well as the under-developed systems available to adequately respond to the multitude and variety of needs of patients and families from diverse backgrounds.…