Speakers Bureau

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!

Photo of Jennifer Adlhoch

Jennifer Adlhoch

Photo of Christie Bolsen Benear

Christie Benear

Photo of Jennifer Bires LICSW

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.…

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Mysty Blagg , LLP

Photo of Reisa Brafman

Reisa Brafman

Photo of Katie Brown

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.…

Photo of Lindsay R. Dailey

Lindsay Dailey

Photo of Megan DiTolla

Megan DiTolla

Photo of Beth Dombroski

Beth Dombroski

Photo of Emily Drake MA

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.…

Photo of Gail Eisenberg

Gail Eisenberg

Photo of Lisa Ellis

Lisa Ellis

Photo of Ann Fry MSW

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.…

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Kristiana Garcia

Photo of Eva Grayzel

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.…

Photo of Linda Guthmann Krieger

Linda Guthmann Krieger

Photo of Heather Hall

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.…

Photo of Caitlin Haney Johnston

Caitlin Haney Johnston

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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.…

Photo of Laura Holmes Haddad

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).…

Photo of Jonny Imerman

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).…

Photo of Abigail Johnston

Abigail Johnston

Photo of Anne Katz Phd, RN, FAAN

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.…

Photo of Carolyn Katzin MS, CNS, MNT

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.…

Photo of Fitz Koehler

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.…

Photo of Shayna Komar RD

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.…

Photo of Jennifer Ladisch Douglass

Jennifer Ladisch Douglass

Photo of Julie Lanford MPH, RD, CSO, LDN

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.…

Photo of Julie Larson LCSW

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.…

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Jamie Ledezma

Photo of Leonard Levy

Leonard Levy

Photo of Craig Liljestrand

Craig Liljestrand

Photo of Lauren Maxie

Lauren Maxie

Photo of Jen McDowell

Jen McDowell

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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.…

Photo of Jill Meyer-Lippert RDH

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.…

Photo of Joyce Mikal–Flynn Ed.D., FNP, BSN, MSN

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.…

Photo of Melanie A. Nix

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.…

Photo of Omar Ortega JD

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

Photo of Danielle Pardue Esq.

Danielle Pardue , Esq.

Photo of Katherine A. Pérez

Katherine Pérez

Photo of Jennifer Sawday

Jennifer Sawday

Photo of Leslie Schover PhD

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.…

Photo of Cari Schwartz

Cari Schwartz

Photo of Michelle Shagenov

Michelle Shagenov

Photo of T.J. Sharpe

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. …

Photo of James Shea

James Shea

Photo of Cathy Skinner

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™.…

Photo of Kathryn Smolinski

Kathryn Smolinski

Photo of Joseph Trunk

Joseph Trunk

Photo of Chelsea Ukoha JD

Chelsea Ukoha , JD

Photo of Elizabeth Vincent

Elizabeth Vincent

Photo of Nicholas Vogelzang

Nicholas Vogelzang

Photo of Luvenia Williams

Luvenia Williams

Photo of Hilary Young

Hilary Young

Photo of Barbara Zabawa

Barbara Zabawa