Day: October 11, 2012

PARTICIPANT BIOS

Diana Aldecoa

Diana Aldecoa is the Director of Grassroots Events for LUNGevity Foundation. 

In October 2006, Diana lost her mother to lung cancer. While her mother was sick, Diana looked for support groups and information on lung cancer, but was disappointed in the lack of information and support available. She wanted to educate people that there are many people suffering from lung cancer, none of whom deserve the disease. 

In 2007, Diana sought a way to memorialize her mother and help others with lung cancer.  In October, she hosted the Kathryn Fusco Memorial Dinner Benefit and Silent Auction in her hometown of Westfield, New Jersey, with the proceeds benefitting LUNGevity. The event was a huge success, raising over $85,000. Diana co-chaired the annual NYC Walk to Beat Lung Cancer in 2008 and 2009, where the number of participants increased to 860 from 150 the first year; combined, the walks have raised $281,000.

Diana joined LUNGevity’s Board of Directors in November of 2008 and served as Secretary and Chair of the Development Committee. In August of 2010, Diana helped found the Community Leadership Board.

Diana graduated from Fairfield University in 2000 with a Bachelor of Arts in English Writing. Diana resides in New York City, where she enjoys trying new restaurants and exploring neighborhoods. She also enjoys traveling and skiing to escape the hustle and bustle of New York.

Linda S. Lin

Linda S. Lin is Senior Counsel at Liberty International Underwriters (“LIU”), a division of Liberty Mutual Group.  Linda supports LIU and its businesses with respect to management liability and employment matters.  Prior to joining LIU, she was a litigation associate at the law firm of Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP where she specialized in securities litigation, white collar criminal defense, securities enforcement matters, internal investigations, and complex commercial litigation.  She also served as law clerk to the Hon. Dora L. Irizarry, U.S. District Judge for the Eastern District of New York.  Linda received her B.A. in Philosophy Politics and Law with honors from Binghamton University and her Juris Doctorate cum laudefrom Brooklyn Law School, where she was a member of the Moot Court Honor Society.

Linda is currently a Commissioner on the NYC Districting Commission, tasked with redrawing the Councilmanic District lines to reflect the City’s demographics.  Linda is the Immediate Past President of the Asian American Bar Association of New York (“AABANY”) and currently chairs AABANY’s Academic Committee and serves on AABANY’s Advisory Board.  She has been an active leader within AABANY since 2005 and has spearheaded prominent projects through AABANY including: (1) the Joint Minority Bar Judicial Internship Program, (2) the AABANY Advocate, (3) the AABANY Law Review and (4) the AABANY Lawyer Referral Service.

Jessica Donington, MD

Dr. Jessica Donington is a General Thoracic Surgeon at NYU School of Medicine.  She did her thoracic oncology research training in the Surgical Branch of the National Cancer Institute and her Cardiothoracic training at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester Minnesota. She is currently the Director of the NYU Thoracic Oncology Translational Laboratory and the Thoracic Surgery Service at Bellevue hospital.  Her clinical and research interests are both focused on the diagnosis and treatment of non-small cell lung cancer. Areas of clinical expertise include the use of multimodality therapy for lung cancer, treatment options for high risk patients with early stage lung cancer and on lung cancer in women.  Her laboratory work investigates at the biomarkers for the early detection of lung cancer and on the role of osteopontin, a ubiquitous protein, in lung cancer pathogenesis.

William Pao, MD, PhD. 

Dr. William Pao is Professor of Medicine, Cancer Biology, and Pathology at Vanderbilt University and holds the Cornelius Abernathy Craig Chair in Medical and Surgical Oncology.  He is Director of the Division of Hematology/Oncology and Director of Personalized Cancer Medicine at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center. Dr. Pao obtained his MD and PhD degrees at Yale University, did his housestaff training in Internal Medicine at New York Presbyterian Hospital-Weill Cornell Campus and completed his medical oncology fellowship training at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.

In his laboratory, he has developed a basic and translational research program that made seminal contributions to the understanding of molecular mechanisms in lung cancer pathogenesis. His work has identified new molecular mechanisms of sensitivity and resistance of lung cancers to EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors and has yielded important insights into a molecular understanding of lung adenocarcinoma in never smokers.  Based on these discoveries, he has developed and successfully tested new anti-cancer therapies in animal models and humans. His work has helped change the standard of care in lung cancer.

Dr. Pao has authored and co-authored more than 140 research articles and reviews in peer-reviewed journals such as Nature, Nature Reviews Cancer, Journal of Clinical Investigation, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Public Library of Science (PLoS) Medicine, Journal of Clinical Oncology, Science Translational Medicine, Lancet Oncology, Cancer Discovery, and Cancer Research.  He has served as senior editor at Cancer Research, journal editor for PLoS Medicine and Clinical Cancer Research, and editor for the Journal of Clinical Oncology.  He has reviewed grants for multiple organizations including study sections at NIH, CPRIT, ASCO’s Conquer Cancer Foundation, IASLC, and the Uniting Against Lung Cancer Foundation. 

Dr. Pao has received multiple honors and awards, including an ASCO Young Investigator Award, a Clinical Scientist Development Award from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, a V Foundation grant, the Hope Now Award from the Joan’s Legacy Foundation, and an SU2C Innovative Grant Award from the AACR.  He was inducted into the American Society for Clinical Investigation in 2011.

Jessica Trovato

Jessica joined the NYC Walk to Beat Lung Cancer in 2008 when her father was diagnosed with the disease. Following his passing only a short time later, she resolved to bring awareness to lung cancer and to help those affected by it. Through her interactions with survivors and supporters, and those that understand the potential to make a difference, she found a community in which she knew she belonged. She co-chaired the NYC Walk last year, and also worked with many coordinators to develop their events marketing materials.  Her experiences with the NYC walk and her design background contribute to a fresh aesthetic for event marketing.

Jess graduated from School of Visual Arts with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in graphic design. Since thne she worked in global product development and marketing with a concentration in the toy industry and licensed goods. She joined the LUNGevity staff to provide marketing support to event coordinators.

A tiny Manhattan apartment is what she calls home, but she enjoys an opportunity to venture into the great outdoors. In her leisure time, she develops her online craft shop with her roommate and best friend, but loves the quiet time spent with her big lazy dog the most.