Board of Directors
Executive Committee
| Richard Payne, M.D. | Chair | |
| Barbara Hoffman, J.D. | Founding Chair & Governance Committee Chair | |
| Lyman G. (Sandy) Welton | Secretary | |
| Judy Chudars | Treasurer & Finance Committee Chair | |
| Tamra Bentsen | Development Committee Chair | |
| Brad Stuart, M.D. | Policy Advisory Committee Chair | |
| Ada K. Jacox, Ph.D., RN | Member at Large | |
| Catherine D. Harvey, Dr.PH., RN | Member at Large | |
| |
Immediate Past Chair | |
Directors
Meg Columbia-Walsh
Tom Dowling
Ysabel Duron
Dani Grady
John (Tom) Koutsoumpas
Cheryl (Sheri) Leonardo
Tucker Melançon, J.D.
John Rainey, M.D.
Eleanor Winter
Executive Committee
Richard Payne, M.D.
Chair
Dr. Richard Payne is currently the Colliflower Director of the Institute on Care at the End of Life at Duke University. And, he is considered to be one of the foremost experts on palliative care and symptom management in the country. He describes palliative care as total care of patients with cancer.
The eighth child of a family of thirteen, Dr. Payne was born on August 24, 1951, in Elizabeth, NJ. After high school, Payne attended Yale University where he received his Bachelor of Arts in Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry. He then went on to receive his MD from Harvard Medical School in 1977. He then completed postgraduate training in internal medicine at the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in Boston and in neurology at the New York Hospital – Cornell University Medical College. He completed a fellowship in Neuro Oncology and Pain Management at Memorial Sloan-Kettering, subsequently joining the faculty there. In 1992, Dr. Payne became chief of the pain and symptom management section and professor of neurology at the University of Texas, Department of Neuro Oncology, MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas. He then returned to Memorial Sloan-Kettering as Chief of Pain & Palliative Care Service and an attending neurologist. And, in 2004, joined the Duke University Institute of Care at the End of Life as director.
Dr. Payne has authored or co-authored over 200 peer-reviewed papers, invited reviews, book chapters and abstracts. He has co-edited two books, Current Therapy of Pain, with Dr. Kathleen M. Foley and Assessment and Treatment of Cancer Pain with Drs. C. Stratton Hill and Richard B. Patt. He has lectured throughout the world on various topics related to research and clinical aspects of pain management and palliative medicine.
Barbara Hoffman, J.D.
Founding Chair & Governance Committee Chair
Barbara Hoffman, J.D., is a member of the legal research and writing faculty of Rutgers School of Law — Newark and is the founding chair of the National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship. She is the author of numerous book chapters, articles, Web content and consumer booklets on the legal rights of cancer survivors She is the editor of A Cancer Survivor's Almanac: Charting Your Journey, John Wiley & Sons (3d ed. 2004).
Since the early 1980s, Professor Hoffman has advocated for the rights of cancer survivors and individuals with disabilities. She has spoken at more than 100 conferences and programs about cancer survivorship. She has served as a consultant to the National Cancer Institute, comprehensive cancer centers, nonprofit organizations and websites. Professor Hoffman was an area specialist to the Cancer Survival Toolbox. She is a member of the Princeton University Alumni Schools Committee. Professor Hoffman is the recipient of the President’s Award from the National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship and of an Image Award from DateAble, Inc.
Lyman G. (Sandy) Welton
Welton is the President and CEO of Morehead Associates. Morehead conducts predictive human capital research for hospitals throughout
Before founding Morehead, Welton spent the first 10 years of his post-graduate career organizing not-for-profit initiatives focused on domestic and international justice issues. He co-founded the Vietnamese Children’s Fund and helped organize the Coalition against the Death Penalty in NC. He is the recipient of the James Luther Adams Award for his contributions to promoting opportunities for low income Americans. He has served on the boards of the Self-Help Credit Union of Charlotte, the Bruce Irons Camp Fund, and Chamber Music at St. Peter’s.
Welton graduated from the
Welton resides in
Judy Chudars
Treasurer & Finance Committee Chair
Ms. Judy Chudars has worked in the staffing industry for 23 years in major markets in cities like New York, Boston, Denver, and Washington, DC before starting CityStaff in 1997. She has worked in Management and Training, but her favorite role was that of Staffing Associate, where she was directly involved in the service of both clients and candidates.
She is dedicated to making sure candidates and clients know that CityStaff Associates take the time to understand who they are and what they need. She created CityStaff to improve the experience of making a hire, or getting a job. "We do business in a special way. The way clients and candidates want it to be done." Controlling this unique environment which links talented candidates with terrific opportunities gives her tremendous satisfaction.
Originally from Trumbull, Connecticut, Ms. Chudars received her bachelor's degree in Biology from Providence College. That career in medicine just never took off! She lives in Virginia and is an enthusiastic patron of the arts, and enjoys performances in music, theater and galleries. She has a keen eye for design, as evidenced in the CityStaff offices - and all the CityStaff marketing materials. Ms. Chudars is very active in the community and is a board member of the National Coalition of Cancer Survivorship, Treasurer for the DC Ad Club and a member of the Society of Human Resources Management, Washington, DC Board of Trade and GWSAE. Ms. Chudars successfully completed the American Staffing Association’s Employment Law Accreditation course and is a Certified Staffing Professional.
Tamra Bentsen
Development Committee Chair
Tamra Bentsen, a native of Washington State, ascribes to the thoughts of Margaret Mead:
"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever does."
Maintaining residences in Washington, DC and Houston, Texas for the past 13 years, she has enjoyed her work with The Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation and the National Race for the Cure in numerous capacities. She was previously the Executive Director of the Congressional Families Action for Cancer Awareness program, a bipartisan effort dedicated to increasing the public's understanding of cancer awareness, early detection and prevention. Currently, she enjoys her service as President of the Association of Parents and Teachers at St. Stephen's & St. Ages School. She serves as a trustee of the National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship as well as the Wesley Theological Seminary. She also is a member of the "Friends for Life" Committee, raising funds for community-based programs for the breast center at John Hopkins University.
She was honored to receive the National Community Service Award from the Sisters Network as well as the Congressional Families Action for Cancer Awareness Spouses Award during her husband's tenure in the United States Congress and has participated in many advocacy and awareness endeavors such as the Pink Ribbons Project in Houston and the Tour of Hope with the Lance Armstrong Foundation.
Married for 17 years to Kenneth E. Bentsen, Jr., the Bentsen’s are proud parents of two teenage daughters, Louise and Meredith. The Bentsen family is a member of the First Presbyterian Church in Houston, Texas and attends the Georgetown Presbyterian Church in Washington, DC.
Brad Stuart, M.D.
Policy Advisory Committee Chair
Brad Stuart, MD, is a general internist and senior medical director of Sutter VNA (Visiting Nurse Association) and Hospice, which provides home care and hospice services throughout much of northern California. He is the principal investigator of research for Sutter’s Advanced Illness Management (AIM) program, which integrates home health care and hospice for seniors with late-stage chronic illness. AIM has been supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Metta Foundation and Aetna. He is also co-principal investigator for the Cardiac Outpatient Resources (COR) project, which creates a continuum of care for heart failure patients from hospital to home. COR is supported by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation.
Dr. Stuart was the primary author of the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization’s Medical Guidelines for Prognosis in Selected Non-Cancer Diseases, which have been adopted as national Medicare hospice eligibility criteria. For this work he received NHPCO’s Heart of Hospice Award, as well as the California State Hospice Association’s Pierre Salmon Award. In 2007 he was voted “Physician of the Year” by the California Association for Health Services at Home.
Dr. Stuart was featured in the HBO documentary Letting Go: A Hospice Journey, and has been interviewed on ABC’s Good Morning America on the topic of physician-assisted suicide. He also wrote and hosted Care Beyond Cure: Hospice Helping Physicians Treat the Terminally Ill, a nationally televised continuing medical education video that won an International Angel Award for Media Excellence.
Dr. Stuart is a cancer survivor, and serves on the Board of Directors of the National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship. He has published widely and lectured internationally on medical, psychological and spiritual issues at the end of life.
Ada K. Jacox, Ph.D., RN
Member at Large 
Ada Jacox is co-owner and CEO of Athena Vineyards & Winery, a business that she founded in Virginia in 2002 with two friends. She is a 26-year survivor of breast cancer and has served on the Board of Directors of NCCS for eight years.
Prior to her current position, she spent 30 years in various academic positions following her educational preparation as a nurse and sociologist. She held positions as professor and associate dean for research at the University of Colorado and Wayne State University, and as professor and director of research at the University of Iowa and University of Maryland. Professor Jacox started the PhD in Nursing programs at the University of Colorado and at the Johns Hopkins University. She currently serves as research consultant to faculty and post-doctoral students at the University of Virginia.
Pain management was the primary focus of Dr. Jacox’s research, and in 1990 she was invited by the US Agency for Health Care Policy and Research (now Agency for Health Care Research) to chair the panel for development of the first federally sponsored guidelines in pain management. She chaired panels for acute post-operative pain and for cancer pain. In 1998, the American Pain Society invited her to be the founding chair of the committee to develop clinical practice guidelines in pain management, where she directed the development of guidelines for sickle cell pain, arthritis pain, and fibromyalgia pain.
Jacox has been awarded more than 20 grants and contracts for research, and has published more than 125 books, chapters and articles, many on pain management and health policy. She has received numerous honors and awards, including election to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences, and to the American Academy of Nursing. In 1994, NCCS gave her an award of special recognition for her work in chairing the AHCPR guidelines on the management of cancer pain.
Catherine D. Harvey, Dr.PH., RN
Member at Large
As a young oncology nurse, Dr. Catherine Harvey developed a passion for cancer survivorship, chronic disease management and patient advocacy after witnessing her patients need for information and their desire to maintain a high quality of life throughout their cancer experience. Dr. Harvey went on to hold a variety of administrative roles in health care and gained expertise in implementing palliative care and symptom management programs in cancer centers.
Today, Dr. Harvey is Executive Vice President for Community Programs and Publications for the American Diabetes Association. Prior to joining the ADA she was a partner in The Oncology Group a cancer-consulting firm that provides a wide range of services to academic medical centers, hospitals, clinical practices and health care businesses. Dr. Harvey has worked in cancer program administration and clinical nursing practice since the 1970s. Most recently she served as Vice President Clinical Services and Public Policy at OnCare, a physician practice management company. Prior to joining OnCare she was the founding Executive Director/Chief Operating Officer of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN), a network of 17 NCI-funded cancer centers. She has a Baccalaureate and a Masters Degree in Nursing from the University of North Carolina and has practiced clinically as both a mental health and an oncology nurse specialist. She has a Doctoral Degree in Public Health from the University of South Carolina. She holds certification from the American College of Healthcare Executives and as an advanced oncology certified nurse (AOCN) from the Oncology Nursing Society.
Dr. Harvey is active nationally in nursing, administrative and advocacy organizations. She was the founding president of the American College of Oncology Administrators. She served as chairperson of the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control's Cancer Control Advisory Committee for seven years. She has twice addressed the President's Cancer Panel once on barriers to clinical trials and once on the impact of poverty on women seeking screening and treatment for breast cancer.
Dr. Harvey has been grant funding as Principal Investigator on a three-year contract from the Center for Disease Control in the area of professional education for breast and cervical cancer prevention and as Program Director on a CDC grant focused on hematologic malignancies. She has published extensively in administrative and nursing journals and served as a faculty member and lecturer in the areas of health care economics, guidelines development, psychosocial and palliative care and the impact of the changing health care system on cancer care. While at the Medical University of South Carolina she taught a graduate course in Healthcare Delivery Systems and a course entitled "Ethical Considerations in Cancer Care."
Robert Sachs, J.D.
Immediate Past Chair
Robert Sachs, 58, is a communications attorney who has served in various executive capacities in the cable television industry for almost 30 years. Sachs is a principal of Continental Consulting Group, LLC, a Boston-based cable and telecommunications consulting firm.
From August 1999 through February 2005, Mr. Sachs served as president and CEO of the National Cable & Telecommunications Association. NCTA is the principal trade association of the U.S. cable television industry, representing cable operators, programming networks and equipment suppliers before the federal government. During Mr. Sachs' tenure as NCTA president, the cable industry attained a deregulatory environment for cable broadband services and launched new services including high-speed Internet access, high-definition television, video-on-demand and digital cable phone service.
In January 1998, Mr. Sachs co-founded Continental Consulting Group, LLC (CCG). He served as a principal of CCG from January 1998 through July 1999 and rejoined the firm in March 2005.
For almost two decades, Mr. Sachs served in executive positions with Continental Cablevision, Inc. and its successor, MediaOne. From 1988 until 1998, Mr. Sachs served as the company's senior vice president of corporate and legal affairs. Prior to being promoted to senior vice-president, he served as Continental's director and then its vice president of corporate development. He joined Continental in 1979.
Mr. Sachs began his professional career on the legislative staff of U.S. Senator Charles Goodell (R-NY). From 1975 to 1977, Sachs served as legislative assistant to U.S. Representative Tim Wirth (D-CO), then a member of the House Communications Subcommittee. From 1977 to 1978, Mr. Sachs served as a full-time consultant to the White House Office of Telecommunications Policy and from 1978 to 1979, he was legislative counsel to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration.
He holds a bachelor's degree in political science from the University of Rochester (1970). He earned a master's degree in journalism from Columbia University (1974) and a law degree from Georgetown University (1978). In addition, Sachs has completed the Program for Management Development at Harvard Business School (1987).
He is a member of the bar of the District of Columbia and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Mr. Sachs serves as a director of Global Crossing, Ltd., StarHub, Ltd., BigBand Networks, Inc., and Update Logic, Inc., and as a trustee of Citi Performing Arts Center, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and WGBH Educational Foundation. Additionally, he serves as chairman of the board of directors of the National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship.
His spouse, Caroline Taggart, is co-owner and co-director of the OHT Gallery in Boston.
Directors
Meg Columbia-Walsh is recognized internationally as a preeminent authority in pharmaceutical business and communications. As a founder and CEO of three large Internet companies, including Oncology.com—which was sold to ASCO—and participant in an IPO, Meg brings her passion, leadership and focus to helping consumers and marketers harness the power of cutting-edge digital technology for better health and growth. Her pioneering business and strategic vision have earned her a seat at the most important tables, delivering lectures, penning articles, appearing on television and radio, and counseling the FDA on the future of healthcare communications. Ms. Columbia-Walsh sits on numerous boards, including the National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship (NCCS).
Currently, Ms. Columbia-Walsh is part of the EuroRSCG Life network as President of Havas Drive. Prior, Ms. Columbia-Walsh has served as managing partner at CommonHealth and Managing Director at Faith Popcorn's BrainReserve and Oracle Corporation Leader at US Life Science and Clinical Consulting Practice. She has also served as Partner/VP at Cap Gemini Ernst & Young, Health High Growth, Life Sciences Practice while also being Founder and CEO of CBS Healthwatch.com, Medscape Inc.; and HealthTech Digital Communications; and Oncology.com as CEO. She has served as Sales and Senior Program Director at Physicians World Commuications Group AVP and Sales Representative and District Manager at Johnson and Johnson.
Ms. Columbia-Walsh holds a BA in business and communications from Rider Univeristy, and at present, is at Columbia University in a post-baccalaureate pre-med.
Since joining Burson-Marsteller nineteen years ago, Tom Dowling has developed an expertise in corporate positioning, corporate reputation, brand development, and product marketing across a wide spectrum of business-to-business, technology and consumer clients.
He undertakes an assignment by assessing the issues his client faces and addressing them head on with the most appropriate strategy and channel. He has adopted an integrated communications approach, employing tactics from media relations to interactive marketing to image advertising in order to deliver business results.
Tom has led international media relations and advertising programs to help build reputation for numerous Fortune 500 companies including Cooper Industries, Bayer Corporation, Eaton Corporation, PPG, and QuadTech. He has also managed the integration of global acquisitions that have included brand integration, internal communications and external announcements. In addition, Tom’s corporate reputation work has included a range of issues management/crisis management assignments, such as product recalls, contest tampering, litigation and plant closings, as well as managing off-shore reincorporation for a Fortune 500 company.
Tom started his career in (and continues to enjoy) corporate and product marketing. He has helped business-to-business companies launch products and consumer goods companies like Pittsburgh Paints, PPG, GlaxoSmithKline and Transitions Optical build awareness and market share through a range of public relations activities including media relations, naming, events, and advertising. Often, Tom looks for non-traditional methods to help his clients reach their objectives, including utilizing grass roots campaigns to change legislation and coalition-building to exert influence on purchasing decision-makers.
Tom has won a number of prestigious industry awards, including many Pittsburgh PRSA Renaissance Awards, inside PR’s Creativity in Public Relations Award. He was a media relations finalist for the Holmes Report SABRE Awards. In 2007 Tom was inducted into PRSA Pittsburgh’s Chapter Renaissance Hall of Fame for outstanding impact in the region.
Tom earned his Bachelor of Science degree in journalism from West Virginia University and a Masters Degree in Business Administration from Duquesne University.
Ysabel Duron is an award-winning journalist who started her 39th year in television news broadcasting in September of 2009. In June 2009 she was inducted into the National Association of Hispanic Journalist’s Hall of Fame. The senior anchor of the KRON 4 Weekend Morning News in San Francisco for the past 17 years, Duron was one of the first Latinas to work in mainstream television breaking through in 1971 in the San Francisco Bay Area in what was mostly a white male domain. As a journalist she has won recognition nationally and regionally with two Emmy’s, a John Swett Award from the California Teachers Association and another from the Society for Professional Journalists. She’s an inductee of the Silver Circle in the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences for over 25 years of meritorious work in journalism.
She’s covered such prominent stories as the 1973 Patricia Heart Kidnap, the 1976 assassinations of San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk, the People’s Temple, the Black Panthers, Cesar Chavez and the UFW movement, the 1984 Mexico City earthquake, the 1988 death of Chicago’s first black Mayor, Harold Washington, among other historic events.
As a Latina, she has been a role model to and influenced many young Latinas; been named both a Latina Pioneer by the La Raza Media Association of the Bay Area, and received a Living Legacy Award from the Chicana-Latina Foundation of San Francisco. She received the President’s Award from the National Association of Hispanic Journalists in 2006 for her journalism and community work around issues of cancer. She is featured in a 2008 publication, Building the Latino Future, Success Stories for the Next Generation by authors, Frank Carbajal and Humberto Madrid.
Throughout her career, Duron has turned the spotlight on Latino issues as well as culture, political battles, educational challenges, health needs and labor conflicts. Her own 1998 battle with cancer was turned into an award winning series that touched on treatment, support and research issues. As a result she created a non-profit, Latinas Contra Cancer. The agency celebrated 6 years of survivorship this September. LCC offers a Spanish language support group as well as case management, patient navigation, educational workshops and a bilingual resource website.
LCC’s growing support group has served over 90 individuals, one as young as 5 years old. As part of its special service, LCC has also distributed 150 bras, wig and prosthesis and sent another $5K worth of product to a breast cancer agency in Mexico. LCC’s signature education program called Health Bingo was piloted by 5 California agencies as well as agencies in Houston, TX and Orlando, FL and Las Vegas, NV. Over 4000 people have been educated in various health bingo events. Over 1000 women have signed up for breast cancer screening.
In July 2008, Latinas Contra Cancer convened the National Latino Cancer Summit, a first of its kind event in San Francisco, bringing together researchers with community agencies and community educators to exchange information around cancer issues in the Latino community, to network and provide opportunities for collaboration.
The Summit drew 325 participants from 21 states, the District of Columbia and Costa Rica. There were 14 panels, 52 presenters and 7 keynote speakers. Summit 2010 is on the drawing board.
In June 2007, Duron was chosen one of the 100 Latino Influentials in Silicon Valley and voted the number one Latino Influential in the Media. In February 2008, she was selected one of the 80 Women of Influence in Silicon Valley by the Silicon Valley Business Journal and NAWBO (National Association of Women Business Owners).
She was elected to the board of the National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship in January 2009.
Duron is a 1990 Fellow of the National Hispana Leadership Institute; a member of the Advisory Board of the International Women’s Media Foundation in Washington, D.C., an organization which provides leadership and other skills training to women journalists around the globe; a Senior Fellow of the American Leadership Forum (a network of Silicon Valley leaders). She sits on the board of the Valley Medical Center Foundation in San Jose, CA., which fundraises for the Santa Clara County public health care system. She serves on a number of national advisory committees including the Lance Armstrong Foundation Latino Initiatives Committee, the National Latina Breast Cancer Advisory Council to Astra Zeneca, and PALS (Patient Advocacy Leadership Summit), Glaxo Smith Kline.
She was presented with the Girl’s Scout’s highest honor, the Juliette Gordon Low Award, 2003 as well as the Janet Gray Hayes Award, named after the first woman mayor of San Jose, both for her community work and journalism career. In May 2008 she received the Francine Levien Activist Award by Zero Breast Cancer of Marin County, CA for her work in the Latina community around issues of cancer.
Dani Grady is a person who never gives up. Diagnosed with advanced breast cancer at the age of 29, she fought her way through multiple surgical procedures, chemotherapy, and severe septicemia, to beat the odds. Taking lessons from her own odyssey, she dedicated herself to helping patients make informed decisions about their treatment options by assisting them to use available information and resources. Hired by the UCSD Cancer Center as Patient Ombudsman and Clinical Care Coordinator, she became a one-person database, counseling patients on treatment choices and current clinical trials. She also became a "matchmaker" - linking patients with appropriate physicians and protocols. Dani was designated by the National Cancer Institute as the San Diego resource for public information on cancer. Additionally, she started Sports Buddies!, a big brother/big sister program that linked more than one hundred pediatric oncology patients with UCSD intercollegiate athletes.
Her belief that cancer survivors make the best patient mentors motivated Dani to propose the idea for a network of survivors to support and counsel new patients. Called the Thrivers' Network, her idea was presented to the UCSD Cancer Center Foundation and received their go-ahead in the Fall of 1993. (The name Thrivers' Network is derived from Dani's firm belief that thriving is a lot more fun than merely surviving.) As Executive Director, she established an executive committee of cancer survivors and family members, and trained a corps of volunteers to help new cancer patients find the hope and strength to remake their lives.
Ms. Dani's mission to provide support and education to patients led her to organize five "Beyond Surviving - Thriving!" Cancer Survivorship Symposia, and to serve as co-chair for three community-wide National Cancer Survivorship Day celebrations. She is a founder and chair of Cancer Survivorship San Diego!, now in its second year. This organization is an unprecedented collaboration of all area cancer support organizations and hospitals.
Driven to contribute ever more, Dani has taken her advocacy on behalf of cancer survivors to a wider audience, speaking nationwide and appearing locally and nationally in more than 200 television, radio, and newspaper interviews as a voice for the cancer survivorship community. In a uniquely creative project to help overcome societal fears about cancer and the consequences of its treatment, she teamed up with photographer Art Myers to produce a photographic essay on breast cancer survivors, entitled "Winged Victory: Altered Images, Transcending Breast Cancer." The photographs have been exhibited nationally, featured on local and national television news, and published in a book.
Currently Dani is an active member of several organizations. She is a National Breast Cancer Coalition LEAD graduate; a board member of the National Association of Cancer Patients; a member of the National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship; and, Chair of the Thrivers' Network. She lives in Coronado with her very supportive husband, Dr. Ralph Greenspan, a geneticist at The Neurosciences Institute, and her Abyssinian kitty, Lilly.
Tom Koutsoumpas has more than 30 years experience in government, public policy, politics, issue advocacy, public relations and crisis communications.
His expertise in Government Relations comes from his multifaceted experience at the Federal and State levels. He has long been engaged in health policy issues and been a strong advocate for health care providers, patients, and caregivers. Prior to joining UnitedHealth Group, Tom served as Executive Vice President and Chief of public affairs with VITAS Healthcare Corporation, the nation’s largest and one of the oldest providers of end-of-life care. Preceding his work for VITAS Healthcare Corporation, he was Senior Advisor and Executive Assistant/Federal Affairs to Indiana Governor, now Senator Evan Bayh. He has also served as Government Relations Representative at the Washington, D.C. law firm of Hogan and Hartson and as Government Relations Counselor for Burson-Marsteller, one of the nation’s largest public relations firms. Tom began his work in Public Policy in Washington, D.C., serving for over 11 years on the staff of United States Senator Birch Bayh where he performed a variety of staff and legislative functions.
Mr. Koutsoumpas currently serves on the Board of Directors of the National Hospice Foundation; served on the Board of the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization and its Public Policy Steering Committee. He is also a member of the Business-Government Relations Council and a former member of the Board of Regents of Georgetown University, where he remains an active alumnus.
Tom is a graduate of Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. and holds a degree in American Studies.
Sheri Leonardo has vast experience in human resources and currently works with Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide. She has worked on all aspects of HR as a consultant and has previously been a career management coach. Ms. Leonardo graduated with a BS in Behavioral Sciences and Criminal Justice from Iona College. She is a member of the Society of Human Resources Management, Human Capital Institute, Potomac Employers' Roundtable, a Board Member for Critters for the Cure as well as a Board Vice President Shepherd's Table in Silver Spring, MD. She is eager to bring her skills and talents to the National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship.
Judge Melancon was nominated to the federal bench by President Clinton in November, 1993, and confirmed by the United States Senate in February 1994. He received his undergraduate degree from Louisiana State University in 1968, and his law degree from Tulane University in 1973. Upon his graduation from law school, Judge Melancon practiced law in Marksville, Louisiana.
For nine years prior to his appointment to the federal bench, he was Managing Partner of the law firm Melancon & Rabalais. He has served on various bar association and legal or judicial-related committees including the following: Avoyelles Parish Bar Association, President, 1977-1978; Louisiana State Bar Association, House of Delegates, 1973-1975, 1990-1994; Bar Association of the Fifth Federal Circuit; Federal Bar Association – New Orleans Chapter; Louisiana Bar Foundation; American Inns of Court, the Judge Fred Fudickar, Jr., the Cross-Roads American Inn of Court of Alexandria-Pineville and the John M. Dube Chapters; American Judicature Society; Louisiana Workers’ Compensation Advisory Board, 1990-1991; Committee to Study Backlog in the Courts of Appeal, First and Third Circuits, by appointment of the Louisiana Supreme Court, 1991; American Trial Lawyers Association; Louisiana Trial Lawyers Association, Presidents Advisory Board.
Dr. Rainey has been involved in patient issues for many years. As a founding member of the Miles Perret Cancer Services Center in Lafayette, Louisiana in 2002, over 1000 patients per year have been provided services such as counseling, nutritional services, financial assistance, wigs, and prosthetic appliances. The Miles Perret Center provides these services over all Southwest Louisiana and is a model for coordinated cancer services.
Dr. Rainey has been a practicing medical oncologist for over 30 years. During that time, he has been a founding member of the Louisiana Oncology Society and was its Chairman for fifteen years. He has been an active member of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, serving on multiple committees and its Board of Directors. Dr. Rainey continues to serve on the Louisiana Lung and Cancer Trust Fund Board, which is charged with directing the Louisiana Tumor Registry and directing cancer control activities for the State of Louisiana.
Dr. Rainey attended Louisiana State School of Medicine in New Orleans, La. Medical internship and residency was completed at Lafayette Charity Hospital, an LSU affiliated hospital. He completed a medical oncology fellowship at the University of Arizona. He is boarded in Internal Medicine and Medical Oncology.
Eleanor Winter serves as Senior Vice President of Special Projects for the National Cable & Telecommunications Association in Washington, D.C. Ms. Winter is responsible for CablePAC, the cable television industry's political action committee. In this capacity, she organizes and coordinates fundraising events for federal candidates and Members of Congress. In addition, Ms. Winter advises NCTA member companies on their fundraising strategies.
Before joining NCTA, Ms. Winter worked for the public relations firm Cribben, Miller and Moses. The firm, with offices in Washington D.C. and Los Angeles, concentrated on political and corporate fundraising projects.
Prior to that, Ms. Winter worked for Senator John Stennis from Mississippi and later for Senator Paul Simon from Illinois. Ms. Winter is a cancer survivor.
