LUNGevity Celebration of HOPE Program - Other - Page 19
JILL FELDMAN
Lung cancer survivor and advocate
Jill Feldman is a lung cancer patient, committed
Lung Cancer Advocate, the former president
of LUNGevity Foundation / former member of
LUNGevity Foundation’s Board of Directors, and
co-founder of the patient group EGFR Resisters.
Jill was diagnosed in 2009 with EGFR+ non-small cell lung
cancer at 39 years old with four small children. Her cancer
was initially diagnosed as stage I, but was re-diagnosed as
stage IVa in 2013. Jill’s family has an extensive history of
lung cancer — her mother, father, aunt, and two grandparents
unfortunately all died of lung cancer. Because of advancements
in research and treatment, she has had an opportunity that
her family didn’t have: being there for her family.
As a co-founder of the EGFR Resisters patient group, she has
used her experience and voice to help grow the EGFR+ lung
cancer community and create change to accelerate research
that can and will prolong and better the lives of people
diagnosed with EGFR+ lung cancer. Jill and her EGFR
Resisters co-founder, Ivy Elkins, worked with LUNGevity
to launch the Patient Reported Initaitive on Resistance,
Incident, Treatment studY (Project PRIORITY) to help
understand the treatment experience of EGFR+ lung cancer
patients and empower the community to have an impact on
treatment development and future research.
Jill is also a strong advocate of ending the
stigma of lung cancer. Lung cancer is a
historically stigmatized disease, resulting in
lack of support and funds for research and
barriers to diagnosis and treatment. Many
diagnosed are forced to feel shame, blame, and even
shunned. In her advocacy work, Jill often stresses that
anyone can get lung cancer, and regardless of what caused
it, no one deserves to be diagnosed with or die from it.
Jill’s time, effort, and partnership have been invaluable to
LUNGevity over the years. She has served as president,
member of the Board of Directors, member of Educational
Editorial Board, event participant and fundraiser, research
partner, subject of LUNGevity’s awareness campaign Inhale
for Life: Biomarker Testing, and the author of countless
blogs, sharing her story and experience with lung cancer. Her
impact cannot be overestimated.
Jill has a bachelor of science in business communications
from the University of Kansas and a Master’s degree in
Elementary Education from DePaul University. She works
part time from home and spends her summers working at
Culver Summer Schools and Camps in Culver, Indiana, where
her kids attend camp. She lives in Deerfield, IL, with her
husband, four children, and two dogs.