Megan-Claire Chase, aka Warrior Megsie, is a patient advocate and breast cancer survivor from Atlanta, Georgia. Her blog, Life on the Cancer Train, is famous for being authentic, raw, and informative, with a twist of humor, where she shares her experiences of being a young adult cancer survivor while advocating for better treatments and resources. The blog is syndicated on Cancer Health Magazine's website. Megan-Claire is a highly sought-after blogger and influencer in the cancer community nationally and internationally.

In 2023, Megan-Claire was featured in Stories from the Stage episode "Beyond Cancer," which aired on PBS and World Channel. Currently serves on Bayer Oncology's Digital Patient Council, and the Oncology Data Advisory Editorial Board, and is a Board Member for the LYTE Foundation. She hosts two podcasts, The Other Side of Cancer and Our BC Life, and ongoing collaborations with Teen Cancer America to create inclusive content for social media and patient-facing collateral.

Megan-Claire co-authored abstracts and presented posters, including Genetic Testing in Metastatic Breast Cancer in the USA: A Podcast | Oncology and Therapy (springer.com), and The Impact of Triple-Negative Breast Cancer in Black Women at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium in 2023, and "You don't really have a say in anything...like you don't have any options": AYA Cancer Survivors' Perspectives on Fertility Preservation Conversations with Healthcare Providers presented at the 16th Annual American Psychosocial Oncology Society (APOS) in 2019 and accepted for a Poster Symposia II: Sexual and Reproductive Health oral presentation at the annual meeting of the Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine and published in the medical journal Psycho-Oncology.

Megan-Claire's work is featured in several publications, including Cancer Health, Cancer Today, CURE Magazine, Count Me In, Everyday Health, Elephants and Tea, Dating Roo (UK), Voyage ATL, Humor Beats Cancer, IHadCancer.com, RETHINK Cancer, Pharmaphorum (UK), and WebMD.
Blog: Life on the Cancer Train at www.warriormegsie.com
Social Media Links:
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/warriormegsie/
Twitter - https://twitter.com/warriormegsie
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/megan-claire-chase/
Other Links to Projects/Articles:

Stories from the Stage on PBS and World Channel episode: Beyond Cancer Watch here.

Cancer Health magazine: You Can’t Escape Race in Cancer Read here.
Oncology Data Advisor: AYA Cancer Awareness Week: Creating Welcoming Spaces for Support and Advocacy With Dr. Lauren Ghazal, Megan-Claire Chase, and Allison Rosen Listen here.

The Patient Story: Megan-Claire's Breast Cancer Story: My Symptoms Were VERY Different Watch here 

Pfizer: Genetic Testing in Metastatic Breast Cancer in the USA: A Podcast | Oncology and Therapy (springer.com)


Megan-Claire Chase, Patient Advocate.

Melanie Brooks is the author of the memoir A Hard Silence: One daughter remaps family, grief, and faith when HIV/AIDS changes it all (Vine Leaves Press, 2023) and Writing Hard Stories: Celebrated Memoirists Who Shaped Art from Trauma (Beacon Press, 2017) She teaches creative nonfiction in the M.F.A. program at Bay Path University and in the M.F.A. program at Western Connecticut State University and professional writing at Northeastern University. She holds an M.F.A. in Creative Nonfiction from the University of Southern Maine’s Stonecoast writing program and a Certificate in Narrative Medicine from Columbia University. She has had numerous interviews and essays on topics ranging from loss and grief to parenting and aging published in the The Boston Globe, HuffPost, Yankee Magazine, Psychology Today, The Washington Post, Ms. Magazine, Creative Nonfiction, and other notable publications. She lives in New Hampshire with her husband, two children (when they are home from university), and chocolate Lab.

Website: https://www.melaniebrooks.com/

‘A Hard Silence’ book from: https://shorturl.at/uHFLS

Melanie Brooks, Author & Patient Advocate

Dr. Rachna Rekhi is a board certified pediatrician and lifestyle medicine physician. Prior to attending medical school she earned a degree in Food Science and Human Nutrition from the University of Florida. After university, she worked as a researcher in the Cardiology Department at Stanford University.  She had aspirations of becoming a cardiologist until she attended medical school at McGill University in Montreal, Canada and had a revelation that many adult diseases begin in childhood. After that she focused her energy on becoming a pediatrician in hopes of influencing families to adopt healthier habits at a young age.

She has worked at Kaiser Permanente, a large healthcare system, for 13 years. During this time she recognized that children are capable of making great choices about their health if they have the proper knowledge, and they need to be a part of the conversation about their health.  She believes that children have the power to influence the adults in their life to be healthier. She co-hosts a podcast called Wellness Wizards with her 9 year old son and 11 year old daughter, where they discuss, simplify, and gamify lifestyle medicine topics including primarily plant based nutrition, physical activity, restorative sleep, reduction of risky substances, social connectedness, and stress reduction. She loves traveling and cooking healthy food with her children. Last year the family took a year off and traveled to 19 countries together, and since then they have made it a goal to travel to all 7 continents together.

You can follow their channel at https://www.youtube.com/@wellnesswizardsofficial.

You can also check out their audio podcast here:
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0EFWUCmNamD6pLJimbOJxU?si=5de277020f3147ed
Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/in/podcast/wellness-wizards/id1713230846
Amazon: https://www.amazon.in/Wellness-Wizards/dp/B0CLKW18P1

Wellness Wizards
Youtube
Spotify
Apple Podcast

Rachna Rekhi, pediatrician

Based in Colorado, Risa August is an author, Speaker, Gestalt practitioner and Patient Advocate for rare pituitary diseases. She has been sharing her story for the past five years, and more recently in her memoir The Road Unpaved – Border to Border with a Brain Tumor and a Bike. In addition to speaking at conferences for leaders in pharmaceuticals, medical professionals, and patients, her work is published on blogs and in other smaller publications. Her most popular personal essay, “Marshmallow Clouds,” has been translated into Spanish. Through her personal transformation, Risa has learned and practiced removing limiting beliefs, shifting her perspective, and embracing a full life.

Risa has a B.A. in geography, a certification in the Gestalt Coaching Method, and a certificate in mindfulness-based cognitive therapy. She has been living with a pituitary tumor and rare disease for over a decade and offering words of inspiration and information to audiences in hopes of saving others from heading down a bumpier road.

A girl with sparkles in her hair and once an Ironman athlete, Risa still has a passion for her bike and barbells. With her genuine curiosity and love for trying new (and old) things, you may find Risa taking Bollywood or hip-hop dance lessons, trying a silks aerialist or boxing class, going indoor skydiving, or guiding an inspirational workshop in creativity.

Risa August, patient advocate

Eric Fisher is a Candian certified counsellor with over 13 years experience working in inpatient and outpatient treatment environments. Originally from the US, Eric specializes in helping those with addiction and trauma. He operates his private practice, Recovery Arts Counselling, in Calgary, AB.

Eric Fisher, Counsellor and Patient Advocate

Lori Abrams has been a consultant for the past year and a half, helping Organizations accomplish representation in their clinical trials.  This has been achieved by developing patient and community focused Diversity Strategy Action Plans, incorporating the patient and caregiver’s voice into decision-making, and bringing tangible solutions to the visible and invisible barriers that prevent representative recruitment and retention.

Her last role was Vice President of patient advocacy and clinical research diversity at WCG.  Abrams and her team worked to ensure that each clinical trial enrolled a diverse group of patients from underserved populations by facilitating culturally appropriate dialogue between patients, care providers, community members and trial stakeholders. The feedback and interactions from these groups garnered significant recommendations for the sponsors, but importantly, empowered diverse community members. The Team also worked with several pharmaceutical companies to develop Diverse Strategy Action Plans both for the Sponsor and the sites.
As the Director of Advocacy, Diversity & Patient Engagement in Global Development Operations at Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) she has built a Team that developed innovative and unique advocacy approaches that brought BMS clinical trial awareness and accessibility to patients, physicians, and caregivers. The Team also developed many relationships with minority-focused health and community-based organizations, to increase diversity in BMS clinical trial populations.  The Team also focused on educating the internal BMS workforce on the barriers, concerns and daily life of patients and caregivers.  This was achieved through quarterly “Voice of the Patient” seminars, art shows by patients, patient videos and internal teleconferences where colleagues could ask the Team questions.
 
Lori came to Bristol-Myers Squibb in 1998 as a Sr. Clinical Scientist in the Virology Group.  During her first six years she was the Clinical Working Group Lead on both Videx EC and Reyataz.  She joined the Drug Development Learning & Collaboration Team in 2003 managing a team of learning professionals.  
 
Prior to joining BMS, Lori was both a study coordinator in HIV/AIDS related clinical trials and a patient advocate at the National Institutes of Health and the Henry M. Jackson Foundation for Military Medicine.  Lori partnered with many patient advocacy organizations to bring the plight of the military’s HIV program to the public and integration into the HIV/AIDS overall arena.  Additionally, she successfully lobbied Congress to gain support for the military’s HIV Program and obtained an increase in funding of 20 million per year.  Her work was recognized with a nomination by Congressman Steny Hoyer (House Majority Leader) to be a delegate to the White House Conference of HIV/AIDS, and an award on World AIDS Day by Congresswomen Constance Morella. 

Lori completed her undergraduate studies at the University of Maryland and received a Graduate Certificate in Organization Development from the NTL Institute for Applied Behavioral Sciences.

Lori Abrams, patient advocate

David E. Montgomery is a board-certified cardiologist focusing on preventing heart disease at PREventClinic in Atlanta, where he is the founder and managing partner. Dr. Dave is also a sought-after TV personality, frequently appearing as a medical contributor on CNN/HLN and NewsNation.
 
Dr. Dave was selected by his peers in Atlanta Magazine’s Top Doctors in 2022.
 
Dr. Dave is the host of the web series, The Good Doctor TV, and the podcast, The Health Mastery Café with Dr. Dave.
 
He believes that mass media and social media can play a key role in enhancing people's health everywhere. 
 
Weblinks:
YouTube: youtube.com/TheHealthMasteryCafe
Practice website:  https://www.preventatl.com

David Montgomery, cardiologist, and founder of PREventClinic, Atlanta.

Tina M. Baxter, an advanced practice registered nurse and board certified gerontological nurse practitioner based in Anderson, Indiana, has over 20 years of experience as a registered nurse and 16 years as a nurse practitioner. She owns Baxter Professional Services, LLC, specializing in legal nurse consulting, wellness coaching, and healthcare educational resources. Tina hosts a weekly Facebook live program, teaches stress management, and offers virtual classes. She founded The Nurse Shark Academy to mentor nurses in business, and is a certified small business advisor with LegalShield. She's a frequent speaker and contributor to various media outlets. Currently, Tina works at Adult and Child Health focusing on mental health for adults and geriatric patients. She has a Master of Nursing and post-master's certification from the University of Indianapolis, and serves on multiple boards and associations.

Social Media Links
https://linktr.ee/baxterprofserv

Tina M. Baxter, Founder of The Nurse Shark Academy

Mary I. O’Connor, MD is founder and Chief Medical Officer of Vori Health, a virtual musculoskeletal company focus on transforming the delivery of patient-centered and value drive care. She is a nationally recognized leader in health equity and Chair of the Board of Directors of Movement is Life, a nonprofit multi-stakeholder coalition committed to addressing musculoskeletal health disparities. Her new book, “Taking Care of You: The Empowered Woman’s Guide to Better Health,” supports women advocating for equitable healthcare. A past Olympian (US Women’s Rowing), she is passionate in her promotion of the power of sports for girls and women.
Dr. O’Connor is Professor Emerita of Orthopedics at Mayo Clinic and past Professor of Orthopaedics and Rehabilitation at Yale School of Medicine. She received her MD from Drexel University and completed her residency in orthopedics and fellowship in orthopedic oncology at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. She practiced at Mayo Clinic in Florida until 2015 during which time she served in many leadership roles: Enterprise-wide Medical Director of the Office of Integrity and Compliance; Chair, Orthopedic Surgery Department (Florida); Medical Director for Development (Florida); and member of the Executive Operations Team (Florida). In 2015, she became the inaugural Director of the Center for Musculoskeletal Care at Yale School of Medicine and Yale New Haven Health. In February 2021, Dr. O’Connor became a founder and Chief Medical Officer at Vori Health to advance her passion for transforming musculoskeletal care.
Dr. O’Connor has published extensively on clinical research and innovation in care pathways, hip fracture care, limb salvage for tumor, sex and gender differences in arthritis, and regenerative medicine. At Yale, she led the creation of a multidisciplinary hip fracture program which transformed clinical outcomes and promoted innovation in the care of this vulnerable population.  She authors a quarterly column in Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research entitled, “Equity360: Gender, Race and Ethnicity,” to advance health equity in the orthopedic profession.
She has broken numerous gender barriers as the first female member of the Musculoskeletal Tumor Society (MSTS), the International Society of Limb Salvage (ISOLS), the American Association of Hip and Knee Surgeons (AAHKS) and The Knee Society. She is the Past President of the Association of Bone and Joint Surgeon, AAHKS, ISOLS, MSTS and the Ruth Jackson Orthopaedic Society. She is past Chair of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgery (AAOS) Diversity Advisory Board and the AAOS Women’s Health Issues Advisory Board, founding member of the AAHKS Women in Arthroplasty Group, past board member of the Perry Foundation, and member of the AAHKS Diversity Advisory Board. She is past member of the Advisory Committee on Research on Women's Health at NIH. 
Dr. O’Connor has received numerous awards and honors during her training and career, including the 2023 AAOS Diversity Award, 2023 AAHKS Diversity Award, Distinguished Clinician Award at Mayo Clinic, and the Corinne Farrell Award from the International Skeletal Society. She received the Congressional Gold Medal as a 1980 Olympian (Women’s Rowing).

Company: https://www.vorihealth.com
 
LinkedIn page: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maryoconnormd/
 
TEDx: Promoting Health: Your Secret Superpower https://www.ted.com/talks/mary_o_connor_promoting_health_your_secret_superpower
 
Book: https://mcpress.mayoclinic.org/product/taking-care-of-you/
https://www.amazon.com/Taking-Care-You-Empowered-Womans/dp/1945564148
 
Movement is Life (the non-profit focused on health equity): https://www.movementislifecommunity.org

Mary O'Connor MD,  founder and Chief Medical Officer of Vori Health

In this episode, we join a 3 part discussion on residency program choice, transition, and success. Great content and information for students and residents alike from the Ohio chapter of the American College of Emergency Physicians. 

Tips for Picking and Transitioning to  EM Residency - Ohio ACEP RA

ACEP Frontline, hosted by Dr. Ryan Stanton, features in-depth conversations on the hottest topics in emergency medicine and critical care.

The Health Design Podcast brought to you by the Journal of Health Design(www.journalofhealthdesign.com). Features interviews with the world's leading health design experts including clinicians, designers, patients, authors and researchers. Better health by design.

New tracks tagged #medical school