World-class cancer care close to home. Access to national clinical trials, patient support services, survivorship support and wellness programs. A research engine backed by more than 150 physicians, scientists, nurses and community advocates making discoveries to advance cancer care here and around the world. This is the University of Vermont (UVM) Cancer Center—a cancer center with a national reputation for excellence, offering a comprehensive approach to cancer care, support, education and research. You may not know this unless you or a loved one has faced the burden of cancer. Even then, community members may not realize all that is behind the care and support they have received.
The UVM Cancer Center is honored to announce a new arsenal of advocates who will help build awareness and support for the Center and the patients it serves. A group of 12 volunteers from the Chittenden County area have dedicated themselves to serving as ambassadors, advocates and fundraisers for the inaugural UVM Cancer Center Advisory Board.
Members* of the board include: Ginny Coolidge of Shelburne, VT, UVM alumna and Mary Fletcher Society member at the UVM Medical Center; Philip Daniels, of Williston, VT, Market President for Vermont/Upstate New York at TD Bank and member of the UVM Medical Center Foundation Board as well as chair of the Vermont Chamber of Commerce board and board member for the YMCA; John Evans of South Burlington, VT, Senior Advisor to the President of UVM, and former Dean of the UVM College of Medicine; Patricia Fontaine, M.A. of Shelburne, VT, UVM alumna and adjunct faculty, and current instructor of healing art and writing classes for those touched by cancer or chronic illness; Sonja Fuller, of Burlington, VT, UVM alumna, past Senior Vice President at People’s United Bank and principal of Fuller Consulting Ltd. Co., Kim Ireland, of Shelburne, VT, founder of the S.D. Ireland Cancer Research Fund, 100% of which goes to support cancer research; Anne Lezak, of Burlington, VT, nonprofit consultant at ADL Consulting and 2008 graduate of the Vermont Leadership Institute at the Snelling Center for Government; Ernie Pomerleau,of Burlington, VT, President of Pomerleau Real Estate and member of numerous local nonprofit boards, including Saint Michael’s College, Shelburne Farms, as well as the Federal Reserve Bank New England Advisory Board; Shelley Spillane, of Shelburne, VT, co-owner of Tamarack Services of Vermont, and UVM alumna serving on the UVM Alumni Association; Lori Tarrant of Colchester, VT, UVM alumna and staunch advocate for cancer prevention and treatment; Tom Torti, of Essex, VT, President and CEO of the Lake Champlain Regional Chamber of Commerce; and Todd Warren, of Essex, VT, owner and President of Otter Creek Awnings and Vermont Custom Closets and an active member of the Home Builders and Remodelers Association of Northern Vermont.
The expertise and personal sense of mission of these 12 individuals is evident in their motivation to join in service to the UVM Cancer Center and its work. Board members, at their first meeting, were enthusiastic about the ability to have an impact on the fight against cancer while supporting the greater Vermont community. “I have been closely involved with our medical center for years and have found it to be not only a world-class cancer research center but a compassionate group of caregivers in our own back yard,” shared Ernie Pomerleau. Fellow board member Ginny Coolidge shared a similar sentiment, “I want to see cancer be a thing of the past. Until it is, I want to do all I can to help cancer patients and their families.”
John Evans, who has served in leadership roles at UVM over many years brings a complex understanding of both the impact that an academic cancer center has in our community and beyond as well as the challenges facing academic medicine today. “The community needs to hear the story of the [UVM] Cancer Center and to become more aware of the fact that the treatment available is as good or better than anywhere in the nation and that research done by the center is cutting-edge,” said Evans. “By having a cancer center with the outstanding faculty and staff we should all feel we can get the latest treatments close to home.”
This group will help bring these important messages to our community, and at the same time bring important information about the needs of the community back to the UVM Cancer Center.
“We can’t do what we do without the support of our community,” said UVM Cancer Center Director Gary Stein, PhD, “we are grateful to have the power and commitment of such a dynamic group join us in advancing cancer care and research here in Vermont.”