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Our mission is to support research efforts to achieve the primary prevention
of breast and ovarian cancers. The focus of our efforts is to obtain
federal funding for a “Women’s Health Initiative” to facilitate
clinical trials for the primary immune prevention
of breast and ovarian cancer in otherwise healthy, cancer-free women.
Judith Medeiros Fitzgerald
Breast Cancer Patient Advocate
Profile
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Dedicated breast cancer advocate since diagnosis of bi-lateral breast cancer in 2009. Especially active in the areas of cancer prevention, research, and the impact of lifestyle and diet on survival.
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Founded Sisters4Prevention in 2010 to share the latest research and strategies for those newly diagnosed as well as those living beyond.
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Serve on the board of Directors of the Toni Turchi Foundation, a breast cancer 5013c dedicated to supporting breast cancer research and providing financial assistance to underserved women in the Ohio area.
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Primarily responsible for conceptualizing, writing, and promoting all the content for the Sisters4Prevention website, podcast, and YouTube channel
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Graduate of the National Breast Cancer Coalition’s Project LEAD advocate training. Dedicated to researching and learning breast cancer biology to better understand the challenges of treatment.
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A consumer advocate for the Department of Defense Breast Cancer Research Grant Program.
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Attends San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposiums as Consumer Advocate
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Selected by Ford Motor Company as a “Warrior in Pink” for service to the breast cancer community in 2015.
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Organized and led a group of women in 2019 to lobby Congress to obtain government funding for a “Women’s Health Initiative” to facilitate clinical trials for the primary immune prevention of breast and ovarian cancers in otherwise healthy, cancer-free women. Organized meetings with offices of six Representatives and requested that a “Women’s Health Initiative” language be included in the Federal budget. Our request was Championed by Representative Debbie Wasserman-Shultz and was included and passed the House Budget. The language was included in the Senate budget, but was changed to include all women’s cancer clinical trials whereas the former was allocated for prevention trials.
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Presently serving as a patient advocate for the ongoing Phase I clinical trial for the preventive breast cancer vaccine under the direction of Drs. Justin Johnson and Thomas Budd at the Cleveland Clinic and have attended weekly meetings for the past five years. My duties included recruiting patients for the trial.
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Patient Advocate Member of ASCO.
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Speaker: NIH/NCI Advocate participating in Cancer Prevention Workshop Series
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Komen Advocate in Science
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FDA Patient Advocate and served on Project Optimus Panel
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Cochrane reviewer and Patient Advocate
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Friends of Cancer Research Advocate and panel member and contributor to an Early Phase Trial Designs Group White Paper
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Employment History
Teacher at Saint Philomena School, Portsmouth, RI
January 2001 — June 2009
Fifth Grade Teacher and Science Coordinator
Computer Programmer at IBM
1978 — July 1981
Programmer for Defense Contract: Trident Submarine
Computer and Math Teacher at American Community School, Cobham, UK
January 1994 — June 1997
International Baccalaureate Compute Teacher
Fifth Grade Mathematics Teacher
Education
BS Chemistry, Providence College, Providence, Rhode Island
September 1974 — May 1978
BS Chemistry Providence College 1978
Project LEAD Graduate, National Breast Cancer Coalition
July 2019 — July 2019
Speaker Engagements:
An Introduction to the FDA and the Regulatory Environment for Drug
Development - A Patient Advocate's Primer
March 2022
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NCI/NIH Cancer Survival Strategies: An Integrative Approach: A Patient Perspective
January 23, 2023
Getting the Dose Right: Optimizing Dose Selection Strategies in Oncology An FDA-ASCO Virtual Workshop
May 3,4,5 2022
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Friends of Cancer Research White Paper: Early Phase Trials: Dose Implementation and Interpretation for Dose Finding
November 14, 2023
References
Dr. Justin Johnson - Lerner Research Institute Cleveland Clinic
Dr. Thomas Budd
Details
4018642043
Skills
Dedicated Breast Cancer Advocate
Breast Cancer Survivor
Ability to Work in a Team
Leadership and Teamwork
Ability to Multitask
Eager to Serve - Retired