Dear Friends,
We are happy to share this edition of Moffitt Momentum magazine with you. Each person you read about is an integral part of our broad-based community of courage.
Margarita Romo started Farmworkers Self-Help with little more than a resolve for Florida’s migrant workers to have a better life. It took her strength of mind and will, along with years of hard work, to turn that dream into reality. Today this underserved group has access to better health care and cancer prevention education, coupled with the availability of screening, early detection and treatment. Her courageous perseverance is paying off, and the farmworkers’ agency was among the first to partner with the Tampa Bay Community Cancer Network, an initiative funded by Moffitt and the National Cancer Institute.
Dr. Christine Chung’s ambition and aptitude could have taken her down any number of paths leading to success. Her determination to face a challenge ultimately led her to Moffitt where she chairs the Head & Neck-Endocrine Oncology Department. Her aims are to create a stellar head and neck cancer center of excellence and to give the very best available treatment to patients with these difficult-to-treat cancers.
The magazine also highlights other physician-scientists who are working in alliance with each other and with industry to develop new, better ways to detect and treat cancer.
Research psychologist Dr. Thomas Brandon is dedicated to understanding and altering behaviors, such as smoking, that affect the onset of cancer. His health outcomes work includes developing ways to help people quit using tobacco and to stay quit.
Amanda Ramos describes her diagnosis and recovery from a rare, potentially debilitating type of sarcoma. She says the expertise and support of her surgeon Dr. Odion Binitie and radiation oncologist Dr. Jacob Scott made the treatment easier to endure. Her plans now that her leg is saved? She is returning to her active lifestyle and hopes to go skiing next year.
We hope you enjoy reading these portraits of courage. Clearly, the courage of these individuals inspires ours.
