Frontline warrior

Legacy of Hope has assembled an impressive roster of sponsored runners for the 2022 Love Run Half Marathon; after reading their bios, it’s hard not to see Becky Cammy as a selfless, fiercely dedicated frontline warrior in the fight against cancer. A licensed clinical social worker and therapist, Cammy leads the Oncology Social Work Team for the Sidney Kimmel Center (SKCC) at Jefferson Health. Accordingly, she works hand-in-glove with Legacy of Hope. So it’s no surprise that she’ll be running the Love Run to help raise $250,000 to provide emergency support for Philadelphia cancer patients. See how you can ,support Becky’s work with Legacy of Hope, or go it one better and join her on race day by registering at ,www.phillyrunsfree.com.

Becky elaborates on her critical role “Our relationship with Legacy of Hope (LOH) developed almost effortlessly, because our missions are so well aligned. They’re clearly paying attention to the logistical, practical, and financial needs of our patients. Our team met with Mike [Rowe] to discuss the unique, often unseen, non-medical needs of our patients; this led to LOH establishing the Emergency Patient Support Network, which has become a critical resource to address food insecurity and housing instability for our most marginalized and financially distressed patients.”

Philadelphia has some of the highest rates of cancer incidence in our nation, and about a quarter of people in our city live below the poverty line. Ironically, for some patients, a cancer diagnosis isn’t their biggest concern—when they must worry about stable shelter and food access. That’s where teamwork between SKCC and LOH comes in.

“Legacy of Hope is really a great team with our oncology social workgroup because we share the same values in trying to treat the whole person. So we’re asking about those issues when we’re screening our patients in the clinic and doing our initial assessment. We’re asking how they’re managing emotionally, and financially how this is impacting them. How their employment and income are changing because of this diagnosis. And it involves practical pieces like how are they getting to these appointments; how are they navigating a whole new health care system, and who is around to support them. What we’re trying to accomplish in support of oncology care aligns perfectly with Legacy of Hope and their mission; we lean on Legacy of Hope and are in constant communication with them as we’re getting to know these patients and hearing their stories.”

Cammy recounts a particularly poignant case which illustrates the impact of the Emergency Patient Support Network: “I can remember a patient whom I just recently met in our supportive medicine clinic. She had disease progression of her breast cancer, had two young teenagers at home, and was about to start another course of daily radiation. When we asked not just how she was feeling physically, emotionally but how things were at home, she mentioned that her fridge wasn’t working; and her oven wasn’t working. We learned all this when we offered her a Legacy of Hope grocery delivery and she responded “Well, I would love that, but the food’s going to go bad…” This was right before Christmas, so I got in touch with Mike and the Legacy of Hope team and said “this is a little bit untraditional in terms of the support we can provide, but do you know anyone who is donating some used fridge’s or appliances that we might be able to connect this family with?”

Mike said, “We’re going do better than used. I found a donor who will purchase a new fridge and stove for them. We’ll get it delivered to them and also take away the old ones” since the manual labor of installing the new appliances and getting rid of the old appliances was going to be a huge issue for this single mom. “The fridge got there in time for Christmas, the stove arrived slightly after, “and the patient was able to kind of enjoy the holidays with her family.”

Cammy’s grandparents were Holocaust survivors and “early on, that drew my interest in thinking about death, dying and serious illness, and honoring this time and when things are challenging. They ultimately both ended up dying with a cancer diagnosis, but so much more of their lives was about the trauma and transitions after the Holocaust; this really played into my interest in getting into this field and supporting people when they’re vulnerable and struggling with concrete things like dealing with serious illness.”

When Cammy isn’t at her day job she’s still serving others by, for example, teaching her five-year-old daughter to spread happiness to those in need in our community by delivering Thanksgiving meals to some of SKCC’s cancer patients. She recharges herself through exercise—mostly running—and she’ll be racing in this year’s Love Run with her husband to help Legacy of Hope.

The unprecedented health and economic crisis caused by the pandemic has exacerbated existing healthcare disparities, threatening fundamental concrete needs for vulnerable populations. Hardships related to housing, food, and employment have never been greater, and they significantly contribute to human suffering. You can help make a huge difference by supporting Becky with a donation at her Love Run fundraiser page, or join the fray yourself, and register for the Love Run at ,www.phillyrunsfree.com. Registration is free when you raise $250 or more for Legacy of Hope.

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Elliott Sina

Elliott is a medical student at Thomas Jefferson University’s Sidney Kimmel Medical College, driven by a commitment to advancing care for cancer patients through clinical insight and research. He leads Legacy of Hope’s research initiative, evaluating the impact of the Emergency Patient Support Network on patients’ quality of life. Through his efforts, Elliott aims to amplify Legacy of Hope’s mission, combining patient-centered care with meaningful, data-driven advocacy.

Mike 2

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Dr. Claudia Capparelli, PhD

Affiliations: Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center

Education: PhD, University of Calabria, Cosenza, Italy – 2011

Focus & Impact:  Focus on the role of the SOX10 transcription factor with regard to tumor cell heterogeneity and plasticity across multiple genotypes in melanoma. Investigating how SOX10 plasticity/heterogeneity affects the response to MEKi and anti-ErbB3 combinations in WT BRAF melanoma patients. 

Publications: Publications Link

Honors & Awards:

  • Legacy of Hope Merit Award

  • Outrun the Sun Melanoma Research Scholar Award

  • Unical Fellowship Visiting Scholar

  • International Pigment Cell Conference Travel Award

  • Best Poster Presentation, Ninth Annual Jefferson Post-doctoral Research

  • INPDAP Fellowship for Student Merit 

  • University of Calabria Fellowships for Student Merit 

Dr. Qing Chen, M.D., Ph.D.

Affiliations: The Wistar Institute, The Chen Laboratory, University of Maryland

Education: PhD,Immunology, Roswell Park Cancer Institute, State University of New York at Buffalo (Dean’s Award for outstanding dissertation) – 2006

Focus & Impact:  Focus is on the molecular mechanisms of brain metastasis originating from primary tumors like breast cancer, and the interplay between cancer cells and the stromal cells that populate the brain microenvironment. 

Publications: Publications Link

Honors & Awards​:

  • Legacy of Hope Merit Award

  • Jayne Koskinas Ted Giovanis Foundation for Health and Policy Award

  • Susan G. Komen, CCR Basic/Translational and Clinical application

  • The V Foundation for Cancer Research Award

  • Dissertation Research Award, Susan Komen Breast Cancer Foundation 

Nia Andrews

Bio Coming Soon

Rebecca Blinn

Bio Coming Soon

Carol Sollenberger

Bio Coming Soon

Maree Lavo

Bio Coming Soon

Bryan Lathrop

Bio Coming Soon

Kimberly S. Reed

An award winning international speaker, author, corporate trainer and diversity, equality and inclusion executive, nationally recognized thought leader, expert, strategist and advisor to some of the world’s most influential organizations in global professional services, health care, financial services, consumer products and pharmaceutical industries.

Kimberly is a seasoned leader in transforming organizations into high-performing enterprises and challenging leaders to live without limits, with more than 20 years of HR, talent acquisition, and diversity & inclusion experience; successfully turning around troubled diversity practices by designing, building, leading, and shaping high-performing cultures at global organizations with robust strategies, global employee development programs and enterprise-wide initiatives that have increased revenue growth and organizational brand eminence.

Michele Redrow

Michele is a Director on the Legacy of Hope board and also serves on the Executive Committee.

mary chicorelli

Professional:  Mary is a certified city planner for Philadelphia, a member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association as well as the Philadelphia Bar Association, and the Pro Bono Honor Roll First Judicial District of Philadelphia.

Bio: Mary’s insight into the legal world is invaluable to Legacy of Hope, both in keeping our daily operations moving fluidly as well as making connections for our patients and their families when needed.

“Michael reached out to me about 2 years ago through mutual friends. We worked together to help a woman with stage 4 cancer get her electricity turned back on after it was shut off during the winter. I’ve been 100% supportive of Mike’s vision since then.”

joseph ruggieri, jr

Education: Bachelor’s of Science from West Chester University in Management and Finance

Bio: As a member of Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.’s upper management team, Joseph brings a wealth of knowledge regarding finances, management, team-building and planning to the Legacy of Hope board. Joseph linked up with Michael, our President, and Wells Fargo began supporting Legacy of Hope annually.

“My father passed away from what started as Colon Cancer in 2015. Cancer is horrible and if there is something I can do to help others impacted I would want to be a part of it.”

David April

David is the founder of the Fishtown Beer Runners, an organization with chapters all over the world based here in Philadelphia.

dr. kevin kelly

Dr. Kevin Kelly leads Legacy of Hope’s Scientific Review Board to seek out and support the most promising cancer research in Philadelphia using a merit-based system.  He is Jefferson’s Director of Solid Tumor Oncology.

greg garber

Greg Garber is the director of Oncology Support Services at the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center.

Gina Mancuso

Gina’s experience as the very successful co-owner of CoreFitness, LLC coupled with her expertise in planning special events makes her the perfect Vice President for Legacy of Hope. With energy, passion, and drive that makes her seem superhuman, Gina’s connection to our mission is a personal one.

“Both my father and my dear childhood friend were diagnosed with cancer within 3 months of one another. They were surrounded and supported by friends and family throughout their battle and until their passing. No one should suffer through a diagnosis alone and, without Legacy of Hope, some people would do just that.”

Michael Rowe

Awards:

Volatile Media Management’s Mover, Shaker, Changemaker Award – February 2017

Miles Mack Community Services & Leadership Honorable Mention – 2016 TJUH Emergency Department Technician of the Year, Physicians Choice Award – 2015

TJUH Emergency Department Technician of the Year, Physicians Choice Award – 2014

Bio:

With his free time so limited, Michael manages to fuse his work with his other passion: running. Whether it is with the Fishtown Beer Runners, our own Team Relentless Hope, or his closest friends, Michael can often be spotted on the streets of Philadelphia keeping himself fit and active.