Key Staff
Brian Hill
Founder and Executive Director
I am a stage 4 oral cancer survivor, an had bilateral cervical metastasis of the disease at the time it was discovered. After trying but successful treatments at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, I became a student of the disease. Once it became clear to me that the death rate and the high morbidity of the disease could be reduced through a national effort in awareness and early discovery screening programs, combined with motivating professionals to provide opportunistic exams, I chose to leave the private sector and work towards those ends. While ultimately there will be scientific solutions to things, they are years away. There are tangible, palpable opportunities to reduce the death rate today while those long term solutions are being explored and created. There is also a much needed opportunity to help those currently fighting their own battles with this disease, supporting them with good, current, access to key information that allows them to make the best decisions possible as they travel their path to wellness. OCF started as a seed of an idea in 1999, and my wife Ingrid and I were the original founders and financially capitalized the beginnings of the foundation. Through the support of key oral cancer experts drawn from treatment, education, research, government, and professional medical and dental societies, and thousands of donors and volunteers, that early idea has been nurtured and grown into a powerful national force for proactive change and improved lives.
Besides the responsibilities that you would expect of the head of an organization like ours, I am also a frequent lecturer at universities and professional medical and dental society meetings and cancer conferences. I have often been the face of the foundation and the disease on TV interviews, an advocate for the cause at various government entities such as the CDC, and have been interviewed on the subject of the oral cancer by print media such as The Wall St. Journal, The Boston Globe, USA Today, and many others. I sit on the oral cancer task forces of many other organizations such as as the American Academy of Oral Medicine, The American College of Prosthodontics, The American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, The International Academy of Oral Oncology, and The Centers for Disease Control Oral Cancer Task Force. Simultaneous with my responsibilities at OCF I am the administrator of OCF's long time partner, The Bruce Paltrow Oral Cancer Fund, overseen by Actress Blythe Danner and her children Gwyneth and Jake Paltrow.
Most people that know me understand that the many hours I put into OCF are not a job to me, but rather a passion. While I am often incorrectly credited with much of the positive change that has happened, I am very cognizant that there is nothing that I have done alone, nor without standing on the shoulders of others who facilitate my, and the foundation's success.
Chester Deitz
Director of Internet Technologies
Since 2001 I have worked with the foundation to build the Internet site that you see here today. It has grown from a simple information dissemination concept into a highly interactive outreach to the public - raising awareness and providing the world's largest oral cancer support group - a place to share ideas, help in emotional coping when dealing with the disease, and to those newly diagnosed, navigate the path through the treatment process.
While I originally came to the foundation as an HTML "code warrior," today I am much more emotionally involved with the mission of the foundation. It is very rewarding to be an integral part of changing the oral cancer issue through the use of technological platforms, and being able to actually measure the impact of the foundation's reach those these vehicles bring. I strive to constantly see that the mechanisms by which the foundation reaches both the public and the population of patients and family members it serves, are the most current and sophisticated available.
OCF Note: When Chester is not building OCF technical capabilities, he tours the world from Dubai to Sydney with long time rocker Tommy Lee, and, DJ's for other high profile people and organizations like skateboard legend Tony Hawk.
Megan Cannon
Director of Administration / Social Media Coordinator
The high death rate associated with oral cancer is an issue which can be partially reversed through increased awareness and spreading the correct information, facts and resources virally through the Internet. Through web 2.0, and the social networking mechanisms of it, my job is to see that the disease, and the efforts of the foundation are disseminated to as large a group of individuals as possible. As the Director of Administration and Social Media for the Oral Cancer Foundation, it is my responsibility to assure that the foundation and its mission are consistently presented in strong, positive messages to the public. Via the web and the numerous social networking possibilities there, (Twitter, MySpace, Facebook, and YouTube), I am daily reaching out to new populations of people that are not aware of the disease, the risk factors associated with it, and the early signs and symptoms that someone may be developing oral cancer. I also function as the primary support person for volunteers and organizations working with the foundation, ensuring that they not only get all the necessary materials to facilitate their efforts, but to do the end of event metrics that show what has been accomplished.
I realized early in life the direct connection in helping people and my own personal happiness. I begin to see a pattern and realized that not only does spreading compassion to others makes me feel better, but it often has a domino effect. When the opportunity arose to work with The Oral Cancer Foundation, I knew it would be a perfect fit for me. I can only hope now that the seeds I plant today, will turn into a forest tomorrow.
Sheldon Sax
Manager, OCF News Site
I am in charge of seeing that those who visit the OCF web site, and who subscribe to the Oral Cancer News Feed (RSS) from OCF are getting the most up to date articles from around the world on this disease. We survey hundreds of publications each day to seek out the most current and useful information from new peer reviewed scientific papers, to human interest stories on oral cancer for our subscribers and web visitors. These stories are vetted through OCF to ensure that they provide an accurate representation and the most current thinking on the subject, prior to going live on our news feeds.
In January 2004, I was diagnosed with oral squamous cell carcinoma.
Around this time, I discovered the Oral Cancer Foundation, joined their patient/survivor forum, and posted my situation, asking for advice. Within hours, I was told in no uncertain terms, to get in my car, drive to a big city with a comprehensive cancer center and get a second opinion. The foundation staff wrote me and advised me to do research on occult metastasis and that, in their experience, single modality treatment was a risky choice in my situation. Both were very timely and important pieces of advice.
I drove to Boston and consulted with head of the surgical oncology unit at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary. My path reports and slides were sent to the pathology department at Mass. General Hospital for a second opinion. That opinion was that my margins were not clean and that I needed more treatment. Within 5-6 weeks, I began radiation treatment at Mass General and had 33 treatments spread out over 61/2 weeks for a total of 66 grays (Gy) of radiation. That treatment ended in May 2004 and I have been cancer free since that time. I am very grateful for the high quality of advice and support I received from the folks on the OCF forum. I truly believe that I might not be around had I not followed it. Working in my capacity at OCF I now have a chance to give back and provide the same kind of timely and current, trusted information that I hope will help others.
Susan Lauria
Events and Volunteers Coordinator
As the Event Coordinator for the Oral Cancer Foundation one of my main roles is to help others plan and execute fund raising, screening, and awareness events around the country. Our goal is to expose communities to the world of oral cancer, promote early detection and awareness through these events. Volunteers are a major and valuable resource for doing these events, so I am also always looking for dedicated people who want make a difference in the world and help put an end to this terrible disease. The foundation organizes free screenings in areas of the country where disparities in health care exist, and where known risk factors are common. The Bruce Paltrow Oral Cancer Fund, is OCF's core partner in making many of these events possible.
I became involved with the Oral Cancer Foundation following the loss of my oldest brother to tongue cancer. This was a disease I had never heard of before, but after witnessing the devastating effects this had on my brother and other oral cancer patients, I decided to get involved. Through my annual memorial walk for my brother, (The David Nasto Walk) I am now raising awareness and hopefully saving some lives. OCF was the only organization I found which was totally dedicated to awareness, research and early detection programs, and I am proud to now be a part of it, and a proactive participant in changing the course of this disease in the world.
Candy Sparks
Director of Strategic Relationships and Development
I am the main point of contact to private individuals, corporate entities, and other foundations and charities, creating the basis for OCF's financial future and ability to fulfil its mission and goals. I have a long history in strategic relationship development working with organizations as diverse as the 3M Foundation, The Mayo Clinic Foundation, General Mills Foundation, The Pillsbury Foundation and many other benevolent organizations, to corporate entities such as media giants NBC and ABC, PepsiCo, Continental Airlines, and many others. Strategic relationships also involve celebrity and sports relationships and in the past I have worked with a diverse group from the Minnesota Vikings, The Minnesota Twins, rock star Prince, Malcolm-Jamal Warner, Lisa Bonet, and Surgeon General Koop to name just a few.
I came to OCF after a life long friend developed oral cancer, finally succumbing to the disease in 2009. During that period I had the opportunity to interact with Brian Hill at OCF, and witness first hand the difference in my friend's life from her contacts with the organization and the personal calls from its founder. Brian counseled both of us through an extremely difficult time. We had never spoken to anyone who was so kind and compassionate, or who took hours and hours of his time to listen and educate us about the illness and its treatment. In addition to the many comforting conversations, one of the most important things that Brian did for my friend was to offer her strategic ideas and explain treatment possibilities and options. We believe that these insights that eventually guided her course of treatment, helped prolong Kathy’s life for an additional two years. Every moment of this time was precious to all of us.
This experience, coupled with my background of over 20 years of health promotion, disease prevention expertise, and fund raising for allied causes, created in me a drive to do everything I can to ensure that funding is present to allow OCF to achieve its well defined mission and goals, and ultimately change the course of the death rate from this disease in the US.
David Hastings
Senior Patient Advocate
As a patient advocate for OCF, my primary responsibilities are to work on issues that affect all oral cancer patients. On a large scale this involves being involved in the national dialog with strategic partners of the foundation, media, and government entities to further the foundation's mission of seeing that oral cancer is something that the public is aware of, and that early discovery of the disease at curable stages is taking place. In 2009 this involved testifying at the Centers for Disease Control related to HPV vaccination programs that have the potential to help future generations avoid developing the disease, testifying before the Florida House of Representatives on related HPV legislation, as well as acting as a spokesperson for our cause in radio, TV, and print media interviews as both a survivor and OCF patient advocate. On a smaller scale, I am involved daily communicating directly with patients and their family members through the foundation's web based patient to survivor message boards, which are the world's largest oral cancer support forums.
As a survivor of this disease, and of the difficult treatment process associated with it, I am passionate about not only helping others just beginning their treatment path, but seeing people avoid it altogether. As a never smoker who developed oral cancer through an HPV related etiology and not the more common tobacco cause, I have a particular interest in seeing that more people are aware that this very ubiquitous virus in our country is something that needs to be on their radar.