Backstage @ Upstage

From Lung Cancer Patient to Full Time Advocate HOST: Hildy Grossman, CO-HOST: Jordan Rich GUEST: Dusty Donaldson, Lung Cancer Patient Advocate, LiveLung Founder At fifty-one, Dusty’s life was a whirlwind. A mother of three, she was also juggling a full-time career and graduate school when a lung cancer diagnosis stopped everything in its tracks. Her … Continue reading When You’re Handed Lemons, Make Lemonade! →

HOST: Hildy Grossman, CO-HOST: Jordan Rich GUEST: Jacy Dawn Valeras, Award-winning Television Host, Producer, Podcaster and Music Business Executive Hildy welcomes Jacy Dawn Valeras—television host, producer, music business executive, and podcaster with over 25 years of experience in the industry. Jacy shares her life-long dream of becoming a country music singer. With her father’s encouragement, … Continue reading WHEN YOU HIT A WALL Let Music Change Your Path →

Voicing New Reasons for Optimism HOST: Hildy Grossman, CO-HOST: Jordan Rich GUEST: Maida Mangiameli, Dusty Donaldson, Misty Shields, MD, Ph.D., and Ann Steagall Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) is a highly aggressive form of lung cancer with a 5-year survival rate of just 7%, a disheartening statistic. Despite this, survivors, researchers, and the medical community … Continue reading PROGRESS BRINGS HOPE FOR SMALL CELL LUNG CANCER →

HOST: Hildy Grossman, CO-HOST: Jordan Rich GUESTS: Jaclyn LoPiccolo, MD, Ph.D., Pasi Janne, MD, Ph.D., Dana Farber Cancer Institute and Jill Feldman, EGFR Resisters Hildy opens with a powerful anecdote about an early Upstage Lung Cancer Board member whose mother, grandmother, and aunt all had lung cancer. She endured months of allergy and antibiotic treatments … Continue reading ALL IN THE FAMILY Is Lung Cancer Inherited? →

A Biomarker Dialogue Between Patient and Scientist HOST: Hildy Grossman, CO-HOST: Jordan Rich GUEST: Marc Muskavitch, PhD, ALK+ & Zachary Rogers, PhD, Research Fellow, Koch Institute at MIT This episode features a powerful conversation between two scientists, one now navigating life as a Stage 4 ALK+ lung cancer patient. Most lung cancer patients only learn … Continue reading Living with ALK+: Diagnosis, Treatment, & Hope →

HOST: Hildy Grossman, CO-HOST: Jordan Rich GUEST: Zachary Rogers, Ph.D. Postdoc at MIT | American Cancer Society Fellow Lung cancer treatment is undergoing a revolution. In the last 15 years, we’ve transitioned from broad chemotherapy to precision medicine, targeting the specific genetic drivers of each patient’s cancer. This shift, along with the rise of immunotherapy, … Continue reading THE RIDDLE OF DRUG RESPONSE: Why Does A Drug Work For One Person And Not Another? →

HOST: Hildy Grossman, CO-HOST: Jordan Rich GUEST: James Hiter, Streak for A Cure James and Hildy had a similar experience in having their lung cancer found by accident. James, a “streaker” who runs daily, epitomized health. So, a lung cancer diagnosis—discovered accidentally during a bout of the flu—came as a devastating shock. A routine X-ray … Continue reading Improvise Life! Seize The Day While Living With Cancer →

HOST: Hildy Grossman, CO-HOST: Jordan Rich GUEST: James Hiter, Streak for A Cure James and Hildy had a similar experience in having their lung cancer found by accident. James, a “streaker” who runs daily, epitomized health. So, a lung cancer diagnosis—discovered accidentally during a bout of the flu—came as a devastating shock. A routine X-ray … Continue reading Improvise Life! Seize The Day While Living With Cancer →

HOST: Hildy Grossman, CO-HOST: Jordan Rich GUEST: Zofia Piotrowska, MD, MHS, Massachusetts General Hospital This podcast delves deeper into the evolving understanding of the HER2 biomarker in lung cancer, twenty years after its discovery. We’re joined by Dr. Zofia Piotrowska, renowned oncologist and researcher at Massachusetts General Hospital, to build on our previous discussion, “HER2 … Continue reading Beyond the Breast: Unraveling HER2 in Lung Cancer, What A Difference 20 Years Makes! →

HOST: Hildy Grossman, CO-HOST: Jordan Rich GUEST: TERRI CONNERAN, Founder of KRAS Kickers Imagine facing five recurrences of cancer in seven years. Terri Conneran did, and she turned her adversity into a powerful force for change. Terri embodies the strength of the will to defy the odds of a cancer diagnosis and emerges as a … Continue reading Kicking Cancer! From Diagnosis to Defiance: One Survivor’s Story →

HOST: Hildy Grossman, CO-HOST: Jordan Rich GUESTS: Carl Gay, MD, MD Anderson, Misty Shields, MD, Ph.D., Indiana University Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center. Hildy shares her experience of losing a friend who was diagnosed with neuroendocrine tumors of the gastrointestinal system. Knowing that neuroendocrine cells are present in the lungs prompted Hildy to wonder if lung … Continue reading Size Matters! Small Cell Neuroendocrine Tumors Pack A Mighty Wallop →

HOST: Hildy Grossman, CO-HOST: Jordan Rich GUESTS: Jaime Cheah, Ph.D., Director of Collaborative Screening in the Center for the Development of Therapeutics at the Broad Institute and Jane Wilkinson, co-founder and president of CANCollaborate Our guests, Jane Wilkinson and Jaime Cheah join the conversation to tell us about some incredible work to expand the use … Continue reading Everything Old Is New Again! Imagine This: Repurposing Existing Drugs For New Uses →

HOST: Hildy Grossman, CO-HOST: Jordan Rich GUESTS: Geoff Oxnard, MD, VP Clinical Development, Global Head Thoracic Cancer | Thoracic Oncologist, Boston Medical Center With so many misunderstandings about clinical trials, this podcast aims to clarify what a clinical trial is, how they have changed over time, why it is important to inform patients about them … Continue reading Misunderstandings About Clinical Trials Reflecting On Past Lessons to Future Innovations →

HOST: Hildy Grossman CO-HOST: Jordan Rich GUESTS: David Barbie, MD and Elliott Brea MD, Ph.D. As Albert Einstein said, “If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.” That said, our guests on this podcast share groundbreaking research that investigates new ways of using one’s own immune system to fight cancer. Understanding … Continue reading GROUNDBREAKING TREATMENTS FOR CANCER What’s New in Immunotherapy for Lung Cancer? →

HOST: Hildy Grossman CO-HOST: Jordan Rich GUESTS: Francine Jacobson, MD, MPH, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston The process of being diagnosed and treated for lung cancer is often an arduous one. Hildy discusses her own winding road – how slipping on the stairs while wearing new shoes ultimately led to diagnosis and successful treatment. The … Continue reading WHAT NO ONE EVER TOLD YOU: HOW TO SUPPORT LUNG CANCER PATIENTs AND FAMILIES →

HOST: Hildy Grossman CO-HOST: Jordan Rich GUESTS: Jacob Sands, MD and Julia Rotow, MD, Dana Farber Cancer Institute Do you worry about cancer? Do you, or does someone you love, have cancer? Our guests today explore the often-worrisome journey from screening and diagnosis to treatment. This podcast features a thoughtful conversation among oncologists who share … Continue reading WHAT’S UP DOC? Current and Future Lung Cancer Care →

HOST: Hildy Grossman CO-HOST: Jordan Rich GUESTS: Cheryl Davis, of Red Thred Solutions; Lauren Coye, Patient and Patient Advocate What often goes unheard in medical situations is the patient’s voice. Our guests have a lot to say about this matter. Cheryl Davis has extensive experience in patient advocacy in the pharmaceutical industry. Now she aids … Continue reading LISTENING TO THE PATIENT’S VOICE: We Are All Patients, Sometime →

HOST: Hildy Grossman, Co-Host: Jordan Rich GUESTS: Chi Fu Jeffrey Yang, MD with Alexandra Potter and Deepti Srinivasan Our podcasts have focused on disparities in healthcare, particularly in Hispanic, Asian, and rural communities. This podcast considers the Black community in the US, and in particular, black women. What do we know about lung cancer differences … Continue reading BLACK WOMEN AT HIGH RISK FOR LUNG CANCER? It Takes a Village →

HOST: Hildy Grossman, Co-Host: Jordan Rich GUESTS: Jacqueline Nixon and Gloria Linnertz Radon is a radioactive gas released in rocks and soil, possibly in your home or where you work. It’s odorless, tasteless, and invisible and can seep up through the ground and circulate into the air. As a result, Radon can enter homes through … Continue reading RADON: A MAJOR CAUSE OF LUNG CANCER- TAKE ACTION! →

What Women Need to Know About Lung Cancer Host: Hildy Grossman with Jordan Rich, co-host Guest: Narjust Duma Flores, MD Lung Cancer has a reputation of being a man’s disease. Today this notion couldn’t be further than the truth. Lung cancer is the number one cancer killer of women as well as men, taking more … Continue reading DID YOU KNOW LUNG CANCER’S A WOMEN’S DISEASE? →