More Than Access: What Patients Want from Precision Oncology

Precision medicine is lifesaving. 
But why don’t all people receive it when they need it? 

The Institute for Genomics Education, Workforce & Leadership at Sarah Lawrence College has connected with many leaders who identify disparities in precision medicine access and use. This is especially true in the area of oncology - where precision medicine is widely recommended, yet there is a documented lack of utilization.  

Join us for part two of the Path to Precision Health virtual seminar series, More Than Access: What Patients Want from Precision Oncology, as we explore patient perspectives on the state of precision health. Each panelist, a healthcare leader with lived experience in navigating precision oncology, will share their journey to highlight the gaps that exist and offer their recommendations on how to close them.

Laura Crandon, MBA, CA-AP

President and Founder of Touch4Life
Laura Crandon is a strategist and innovator. A former healthcare and technology executive for over 25 years, Laura has managed billion-dollar P&L portfolios. She founded Touch4Life, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization whose mission is to increase the breast health IQ of BIPOC and under-resourced communities and eliminate breast cancer outcomes disparities, focused on biomarker and genetic testing equity. Out of her own journey with metastatic breast cancer, Laura turned pain into purpose. She recognized the lack of health equity in breast cancer detection, treatment and survivorship that exists for Black and Brown women. Laura counsels, teaches, and inspires women who have been diagnosed with breast cancer and works with physicians and nurses to provide culturally relevant educational materials. She advocates for health equity and inclusion in clinical research, biomarkers and genetic testing, policies, and patient empowerment.

A sought-after public speaker, she has been a serial entrepreneur, venture capitalist and served as a board member on Duke University’s Healthcare Alumni Advisory Board, Johnson C. Smith Theological Seminary, and Pearl Foundation.

The daughter of two path-breaking civil rights sojourners, Laura earned and a BS in Computer Science from University of Maryland College Park and an MBA from Duke University Fuqua School of Business. She was elected to the Board of Governors at the University of Maryland where she serves on the Finance Committee. She is co-author of the article National Cancer Institute Collaborative Workshop on Shaping the Landscape of Brain Metastases Research: challenges and recommended priorities, published in The Lancet Oncology. She holds certifications as a National Breast Cancer Foundation Ambassador, American Cancer Society Health Equity Ambassador Link, Association of Strategic Alliance Professionals, and Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated® Financial Officer.

Laura is the author of a U.S. Patent and a two-time award-winner of the UnitedHealth Group Innovation award, in partnership with Walmart, for Community Services Connect™, a digital social determinants of health platform to connect the Medicaid community with local supportive services, and PharmacySaver™ which provides Medicare enrollees savings on hundreds of prescription medications.

In 2023, Maryland Governor Wes Moore appointed Laura to serve on the Maryland Health Benefit Exchange Board. Her superpowers are networking and connecting people with resources. The ultimate competitor, she enjoys playing Monopoly, leading marriage ministry with her husband, adventurous travel and spending time with her three adult children.

Dr. Catalina Lopez-Correa

Chief Scientific Officer at Genome Canada
Catalina is the Chief Scientific Officer (CSO) at Genome Canada. She has dedicated her career to genomics and its transformative applications in life sciences in Canada and internationally. As CSO at Genome Quebec (2008-2015) and Genome BC (2015-2019), she was instrumental in developing competitive teams for research and innovation initiatives raising the profile of Canadian genomics on the global stage. Recently, as the Executive Director of the Canadian COVID19 Genomics Network (CanCOGeN) she led a $40M initiative to advance the use of genomics to understand and control the COVID19 pandemic. Now, as CSO of Genome Canada, she is taking genomics to the next level, by advancing the national and global implementation of genomic technologies.

Catalina was diagnosed with breast cancer in April 2023. Since her diagnosis, she has been advocating for patients’ access to precision oncology and genomic testing. She written blogs, participated in podcasts to increase awareness about the importance of genomics for he diagnosis, treatment and prognosis of cancer patients.

Dr. Lopez-Correa’s work has been recognized with several awards. Among others, in 2017 the Canadian Senate 150th Anniversary Medal, in 2013 the National Order of Merit from Colombia.

Eric Dishman

CEO of DishStrong Innovation, LLC
Member, Institute for Genomics Education, Workforce & Leadership External Advisory Committee
Originally trained as a communication scholar, Eric Dishman's life mission became healthcare and biotech innovation by career and medical necessity. He has spent 35+ years doing, leading, and teaching health innovation and trying to personalize and precision-ize healthcare for himself as a 23-year cancer patient and for thousands of cancer patients he has advocated for. His first health technology projects and startup attempts were for Paul Allen's think-tank, Interval Research. Much of Eric’s career was at Intel Corporation, where he grew from a researcher studying the needs of frail seniors and patients/families struggling with Alzheimer's, cancer, and chronic disease management to an Intel Fellow and founding Vice President of the Intel Health & Life Sciences Group. He was responsible for global strategy, R&D, and growth in the sector across 50+ countries.

In 2016, the persuasive skills of former NIH Director Dr. Francis Collins and President Obama took Eric to Bethesda to become the founding director of the All of Us Research Program focused on diversifying research participants and data to inform precision health. Eric recently stepped down from his federal position to return to cancer patient advocacy, writing, backcountry skiing, as well as joining health-focused boards, teaching, and doing occasional consulting projects on precision health and strategic planning.

Eric’s ways of thinking about healthcare are captured well in two of his TED talks: beyond mainframe healthcare from 2009 and healthcare as a team sport from 2013.