Brad Zebrack, PhD, MSW, MPH is a Professor at the University of Michigan School of Social Work and member of the University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center, Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences. He is a fellow to the Society for Social Work and Research (SSWR), the American Psychosocial Oncology Society (APOS), and the Association for Oncology Social Work (AOSW). Dr. Zebrack has clinical social work experience in both pediatric and adult oncology, and also has been involved in the development and evaluation of peer support programs for adolescent and young adult cancer survivors. His research on quality of life and cancer survivorship over the past 20 years has been supported by the National Cancer Institute (K07, R03, R01), the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI), and HopeLab Inc. Brad is also a long-term survivor of Hodgkin’s lymphoma, diagnosed in 1985 at the age of 25. In 1988-1989, Brad and his wife Joanne embarked on and completed a one-year, 11,000-mile bicycle tour around the perimeter of the United States to promote cancer survivorship.

[2:07 PM] Tori Swinehart

Nina Jackson Levin:

Brynn Fowler, MPH is the AYA Program Manager at Northwestern Medicine and Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago, IL. Brynn received her master’s in public health at the University of Utah where she worked with researchers to investigate AYA medication adherence and program development. Brynn has been involved in various capacities in AYA oncology for 9 years now in both Utah and Illinois, ranging from research to program development and implementation. Brynn has a deep passion for working with AYAs and loves all of the different hats she gets to wear in her work. Brynn lives in Chicago, IL with her husband and two small children.  

Nina Jackson Levin, MSW (she/her) is National Cancer Institute T32 Research Fellow at the University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center, and is expected to complete her PhD in The Joint Program in Social Work and Social Science (Anthropology) at the University of Michigan in May 2023. Her research explores sexual and reproductive health care among adolescents and young adults with cancer whose fertility is affected by treatment. In particular, she is interested in health disparities among AYAs from diverse and marginalized backgrounds, such as sexual and gender minority patients. Jackson Levin uses multimedia ethnographic methods to better understand young people’s experiences of cancer in order to improve upon service delivery.

Dr. Ursula Sansom-Daly is a Clinical Psychologist at Sydney Youth Cancer Service, a large multidisciplinary service that specialises in the care of adolescents and young adults aged 15-25 with cancer. She is also a Senior Research Fellow, and Director of the Behavioural Sciences Unit, UNSW Medicine & Health, the largest psychological research group in child/adolescent cancer in Australasia. Dr Sansom-Daly focuses on applying evidence-based psychological models and methods to address the mental health implications of cancer among adolescents and young adults with cancer, across the lifespan, from the time young people are diagnosed with cancer, through to survivorship, and for some, end of lifeen.  

Brian Smith is a 35 year old testicular cancer survivor and AYA advocate. Throughout his 11 years of being cancer free, Brian has faced a number of mental health challenges. His faith, his family, and other support carried him through those troubled times. In 2018 Brian joined Teen Cancer America’s Play It Back Music Program where he learned about the healing power of music. He continues to create songs with other AYAs and help develop the program. Brian lives with his fiancé Alexa and family in Palestine, TX

Peter Dawes is from Hampshire, England, and was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia when he was 18 years old. He had a few months of chemotherapy as an inpatient before receiving an allogenic stem cell transplant from an unrelated donor later that year, which was successful. Now 4 years later and cancer free, He’s just finished the first year of a degree in adult nursing at Southampton university and hospital, where he was treated.

Dr. Michael Roth is a pediatric oncologist and AYA research investigator at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. His research focuses on improving care and outcomes for children, adolescents and young adults diagnosed with cancer with a specific interest in improving the long-term health, quality of life and survival for these patients.  He is the co-director of the AYA Program and director of the Childhood Cancer Survivorship Program at MD Anderson. In addition he is the current chair of the AYA Oncology Discipline Committee in the Children’s Oncology Group and he leads the AYA Responsible Investigators Network, whose mission is to optimize enrollment of AYAs onto cancer clinical trials.

Christabel Cheungs: Christabel K. Cheung, PhD, MSW is a tenure-track Assistant Professor at the University of Maryland School of Social Work and Member of the University of Maryland Greenebaum Comprehensive Cancer Center. Dr. Cheung’s research focuses on the psychosocial issues of cancer survivorship among adolescent and young adult (AYA) cancer patients (diagnosed between ages 15-39 years) in the domains of disparities and social determinants of health and mental health, financial hardship and disability, antiracist and gender-affirming patient engagement, and embodied research methods. As a social and behavioral scientist in pursuit of these interests, she has led research projects as principal investigator and co-investigator and contributed to numerous cancer care optimization, patient education, and advocacy initiatives aimed at improving health and behavioral mental health outcomes. As an embodied BIPOC AYA patient scientist and two-time survivor of cancer in the AYA years (Hodgkin’s lymphoma), she is recognized for writing one of the first cancer blogs advocating for racially minoritized young adult patients, JadeGangster.com. She holds a Bachelor of Journalism from University of Missouri-Columbia, a Master of Social Welfare from University of California, Berkeley, and a PhD in Social Welfare from University of California, Los Angeles.

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Kimberly Miller, PhD, MPH is an Associate Professor in the Department of Population and Public Health Sciences and Department of Dermatology at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California. Her research focuses on understanding the health behaviors, healthcare engagement, and cancer-related health disparities of children, adolescents, and young adult cancer survivors. She is leading two National Cancer Institute-funded R01 studies in this area. With Drs. David Freyer (Children’s Hospital Los Angeles) and Joel Milam (University of California, Irvine), she is co-director of the Center for Young Adult Cancer Survivorship Research, an interdisciplinary research collaborative whose mission is to study and improve the health outcomes of young adult cancer survivors.

Dr. Joseph M. Flynn, DO, MPH, FACP, Chief Administrative Officer, Norton Medical Group and Physician-in-Chief, Norton Cancer Institute (a part of Norton Healthcare, Louisville, Kentucky).

Dr. Flynn served in several capacities with Ohio State University prior to accepting the lead role with Norton Cancer Institute, including co-director, division of hematology; medical director, James Cancer Network, Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute; and associate professor of medicine, School of Public Health.

Dr. Flynn earned his undergraduate degree from Skidmore College, and an MBA from Babson College. He is a graduate of the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine and he received a master of public health degree from Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences. He has been extremely active in community education on a wide variety of cancer related topics, and has remained a dedicated advocate in the study of adolescent and young adult cancers and the impact.  Dr. Flynn has contributed to more than 100 medical publications.

Rachael Hough, MD, is a Consultant Haematologist at University College London Hospital’s NHS Foundation Trust and Professor of Haematology and Haemopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation at University College London. She has worked exclusively with TYA patients with haematological malignancies since her consultant appointment in 2005. She has specialist expertise in the management of acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, haematopoietic stem cell transplantation and CAR T cell therapy in this age group. She is also an international leader in the management of ALL in young people and has led on the TYA aspects of the UK ALL protocols, UKALL2003 and UKALL2011 and the currently recruiting international ALLTogether1 trial. TYA-specific leadership roles have included Lead Clinician of the UCLH Children and Young People’s Cancer Service 2008-2017, Chair of the North Thames TYA Cancer Network 2012-2022, Chair of the NHS England Teenage and Young Adult Clinical Reference Group 2012-2016 and Chair of NHS England’s Children and Young People’s Clinical Reference Group 2016-2022