Team

I have been shaped by my cancer survivorship since the age of 17. My experience of surviving the challenges engendered by facing life threatening illness, have served to form the foundation for the adult Woman, Mother, and Lawyer I have become and remain faithful to.

As an accomplished, experienced litigator who, after practicing law as both a Criminal Defense attorney in Manhattan, and then a Deputy County Attorney, I returned to Law School to pursue a Masters degree in Family Law (LL.M) degree, while raising my then 8 year old daughter, as a single mom. I feel the fortitude and determination that has helped guide me emanates from the life lessons dealing with multiple cancer diagnosis have given to me. We are so much more than our medical charts reveal.

I share a beautiful home and life with my life partner, David, who will be the first person to say that he has only known me as a survivor, after we met while attending the University of Rochester, where I transferred after being treated for Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

Beth was diagnosed with HL in her senior year of high school in North Carolina and was treated with surgery and radiation. Shortly, thereafter, she started her education at Duke University, ultimately majoring in public policy with a concentration in health policy. After a short stint working on Capitol Hill, she returned to Duke for a law degree. After graduation, Beth worked in commercial litigation at Simpson Thacher & Barlett in NYC and later at the Taft firm in Cincinnati, Ohio. Beth encountered many of the long-term side effects of radiation treatment along the way, including a diagnosis of breast cancer in 2007. Shortly thereafter, Beth started working on developing a cancer survivorship program at the University of Cincinnati Cancer Center, along with serving on the boards of many Cincinnati non-profits and serving as chair of the board of trustees of The Seven Hills School, a pre-K- 12 independent school in Cincinnati.

Diagnosed with stage 4 Hodgkin’s lymphoma at 17, I’ve carried a deep sense of purpose ever since to improve the lives of others facing cancer. Over the years, I’ve been actively involved in Canteen and Youth Cancer advocacy at both state and national levels across Australia. Through my work with Canteen, I’ve had the privilege of traveling the world to speak about the importance of youth cancer support, and I remain deeply passionate about the AYA (adolescent and young adult) cancer space.

Today, I continue to serve as a consumer representative on various advisory groups—ranging from health system committees to research grants and academic publications. I hold a special interest in survivorship, with a focus on fertility, late effects, and the long-term challenges people face after treatment.

Cancer has taken a lot from me—but it has given me so much more in terms of purpose and perspective in life.

After graduating from Williams College in 1978 with degrees in Biology and Russian, Maria spent a year teaching English in Kurume, Japan. She went on to receive her J.D. from Harvard Law School and embarked on a legal career in New York City.

One year into her career, at age 27, she was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. After undergoing a splenectomy, she was treated with mantle and abdominal radiation. She resumed her legal career and retired fourteen years later when her son was born.

Maria has experienced numerous late effects and is grateful to be a long-term survivor. She lives with her husband in Rye, NY where she continues to study Russian and is active in environmental advocacy.

Raised on Long Island’s North Shore, Robert earned his economics degree from the University of Massachusetts Amherst.  Following his graduation, he embarked on a successful career in residential mortgage banking, spanning over three decades. He is married to his college sweetheart, Melissa, and together they raised two children on Long Island. Inspired by Melissa’s experience as a Hodgkin’s Lymphoma survivor who developed late-stage complications, including right-side heart failure, Robert is now dedicated to raising awareness about long-term survivorship issues among patients and healthcare professionals to promote proactive care.

Dr. Larissa Nekhlyudov is a Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and is a practicing internist at the Brigham & Women’s Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts. She is Clinical Director, Internal Medicine for Cancer Survivors at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute where she offers clinical care for long-term survivors of childhood and adult cancers. Dr. Nekhlyudov is particularly interested in improving the care of cancer survivors and the interplay between primary and oncology care. She has been at the forefront of the field of cancer survivorship, nationally and internationally, by leading and participating in the development of survivorship care policies and clinical guidelines, educational programs, and research. Throughout her career, Dr. Nekhlyudov has been committed to educating and empowering cancer survivors and their caregivers.

After receiving her degree in nursing from the University of Arizona in Tucson in 1969, Susan Leigh served as a Lieutenant in the U.S. Army Nurse Corps. Seven months after completing a tour of duty in the Mekong Delta in South Vietnam, she was diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma and treated with some of the earliest forms of chemotherapy and radiation. This experience influenced her decision to enter the newly founded field of oncology nursing and began this phase of her career working as a research nurse in the new Department of Hematology/Oncology at the University of Arizona Medical Center.

For the past 35 years, Susan has focused her efforts on national advocacy work with special emphasis on the long-term and late effects of cancer treatment. Her most cherished involvement has been with the National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship (NCCS) as a founding member and past president. She has also been actively involved with many professional organizations, including the Oncology Nursing Society and the National Cancer Institute.

Susan also worked as a Survivorship consultant and educator with Arizona Oncology, a multi-site community practice in Tucson, until multiple treatment-related cardiac complications made it difficult to fulfill work obligations and accelerated her decision to retire.

Tricia Hernandez, MS is a survivor, advocate, mom, and adventurer, preferring she/her pronouns. Her career has been spent in leadership in nonprofit organizations. After earning a Master of Science degree in Clinical Psychology from Georgia Southern University, she worked for the State of Georgia with a focus on psychological testing of children with severe emotional/behavioral differences. She went on to lead the foster care program, then served as Director of Operations for a small Atlanta community based mental health advocacy organization. Tricia’s operational knowledge supported roles as operations manager at a national mental health organization and co-executive director of her own nonprofit foster care agency. Following some time at home with her son, Tricia returned to nonprofit operations, advocacy, community outreach, and program delivery at The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. She spent six years as the Patient & Community Outreach Manager for the Georgia Chapter and now serves as the Director of Community Engagement in LLS Education, Services and Outcomes Research, where she manages the LLS online patient community, represents LLS on national collaboratives and leads AYA services and resources efforts. Tricia was named SWOG Lymphoma Committee Patient Research Advocate in 2022, NCI Lymphoma Committee Patient Advocate in 2023, and is a member of the Comprehensive Cancer Control National Partnership. She is a twenty-two year Hodgkin lymphoma survivor and lives in Atlanta with her wife, son, and pups.

Dr. Samantha Siegel is an onco-pcp and survivorship physician at Kaiser Permanente. She has survived relapsed/refractory Hodgkin Lymphoma, including an autologous bone marrow transplant in June 2022. This has made her passionate integrative oncology, AYA survivorship, longterm toxicities, returning to work after cancer and more. Dr. Siegel is the cofounder of PCP-ONC CARES program, a longitudinal cancer survivorship care model beginning at diagnosis and she serves as the current director of Cancer Survivorship for Kaiser San Francisco. She is the host of AIM at Melanoma’s supportive cancer care podcast, “Beyond the Clinic.” Dr. Siegel is focused on elevating cancer survivorship to a distinct board certification status. She lives in Davis with her husband, three kids and energetic dog. They enjoy outdoor activities and plant-based living.