Thank You to Our Expert Speakers:
2023
JAMIE BEARSE President and CEO, ZERO Prostate Cancer. A nonprofit leader and prostate cancer patient advocate for over 20 years, Jamie Bearse is ZERO’s President and CEO. Since taking on the role in 2013, he has led ZERO to quadruple in size while growing the ZERO Prostate Cancer Run/Walk, initiating its chapter structure, and launching ZERO360, a comprehensive patient support program. With Bearse at the helm, ZERO also increased prostate cancer research funding from $80M to $110M at the Congressionally Medical Research Programs at the DOD, raised more than $100M for patient programs and support, and successfully merged ZERO with Us TOO to create the largest prostate cancer support network in the U.S. A thought-leader in nonprofit management, organizational culture, and health advocacy, Bearse has transformed ZERO into a four-out-of-four star rated organization by Charity Navigator and one of the 50 best nonprofits to work for by the NonProfit Times in eight out of the last nine years.
TOM BOGNANNO Board Chairman, ZERO Prostate Cancer. Thomas Bognanno, President and CEO of CHC: Creating Healthier Communities, is a prostate cancer survivor with advanced disease. Bognanno is the catalyst for bringing CHC to the next level with innovative programs that focus on health disparities, community health development, employee engagement, workplace giving campaigns, and health resources. In his role he utilized his decades of experience and expertise to define strategic direction and increase income for CHC member organizations. Prior to his time with CHC, Tom spent two decades with the American Diabetes Association, and before that, with the American Cancer Society. MELISSA CUNNINGHAM, PHD Program Manager, Department of Defense, Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP). Dr. Melissa Cunningham represents the Department of Defense’s Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP), a funding organization whose mission is to foster novel approaches to biomedical research in response to the expressed needs of the American public, the military, and Congress. There are currently seven individual programs at CDMRP that fund urology research, including the Prostate Cancer Research Program (PCRP) that Dr. Cunningham manages. During her time at CDMRP, Dr. Cunningham has coordinated and managed a large portfolio of active research projects for the PCRP, including high-profile Prostate Cancer Clinical Trials Consortium (PCCTC). Dr.
Cunningham assumed the leadership of the PCRP as Program Manager in 2014, and is responsible for executing the entire PCRP program life cycle, including investment strategy, program announcement development, proposal review, funding of awards, and analysis of PCRP accomplishments and effectiveness. The PCRP has supported more than 3,200 prostate cancer-focused research projects, which prioritize research, high impact studies, the development of young investigators, and resources to support the prostate cancer research community.
ZEROCANCER.ORG/SUMMIT 9
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