Interim Executive Director
PALTOWN Development Foundation
As a patient advocate and citizen scientist, Susan has devoted herself to answering the question, ‘How Did This Happen?’ since the moment her 17-year-old daughter Jessica was diagnosed with Early-Onset Colorectal Cancer (EOCRC) in 2016.
Jessica died 17 months after her diagnosis. Since then, Susan’s mission has been to honor Jessica’s legacy through advocacy and awareness of EOCRC. As the Interim Executive Director for PALTOWN Development Foundation, Susan advocates for COLONTOWN, an online peer-to-peer community of almost 7,000 CRC patients and caregivers. spanning every age, stage, and aspect of colorectal cancer.
From helping patients understand their biomarkers in CRC101, to the latest in NGS, CtDNA, and other diagnostic and surveillance tests, to Empowered Patient Leadership and Clinical Trial Navigator Training, COLONTOWN is known for helping patients become advanced students of their disease, with the goal of extending life and improving outcomes. COLONTOWN provides evidence based educational resources that engage and empower.
Susan’s research focuses on the environmental and epigenetic factors that may have influenced the development of Jessica’s cancer, and so many others facing EOCRC. From prenatal exposures that increase the body burden of chemicals, to lesser known factors that may be quietly increasing the risk and incidence of inflammatory diseases. Susan has addressed international researchers and clinicians and participated in oncology conferences and advisory panels. She was asked to present her research to the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences under NIH.
