Board Members

The Patient Advocate Foundation Board is comprised of a network of research and community oncologists, attorneys, legislators, healthcare industry representatives, and case managers committed to the goal of offering support to patients.

View Past Presidents of the Executive Board of Directors
View the Finance Committee of the PAF Board of Directors

Executive Board

Nancy Davenport-Ennis
Chairperson of the Board/Co-Founder
Patient Advocate Foundation
National Patient Advocate Foundation

John H. Ennis
Co-Founder

Dennis A. Gastineau, MD
Board President
Chair, Division of Hematology
Director, Human Cell Therapy Laboratory
Divisions of Transfusion Medicine & Hematology
Mayo Clinic

Christian Downs, JD, MHA
Immediate Past President
Executive Director
Association of Community Cancer Centers
Rockville, MD

Leah Arnett, RN, BSN, MHCA
Board Secretary
Executive Director
North Carolina State University Student Health Center

Bruce Avery, MD
Hematology-Oncology Knoxville

Alan J. Balch, PhD
Vice President
Preventive Health Partnership

John Caldwell, CPA, MST, CGMA
Managing Partner
Malvin, Riggins & Company, P.C.

John Harrington
Chief Commercial Officer (Retired)
Sanofi-Aventis

Deborah Parham Hopson, PhD, RN, FAAN
Assistant Surgeon General
Associate Administrator for HIV/AIDS
Health Resources and Services Administration
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Lovell Jones, PhD.
Director, Center for Research on Minority Health (CRMH)
Center of Excellence in Partnerships for Community Outreach and Research on Disparities in Health and Training (EXPORT)
Health Disparities Education, Awareness, Research & Training (HDEART) Consortium
Department of Health Disparities Research
The University of Texas
M. D. Anderson Cancer Center

Diane Mauk
Software Architects, LLC

Otis Maynard
Associate General Counsel
United Health Group

Pearl Moore, RN, MN, FAAN
CEO (Retired)
Oncology Nursing Society

John L. Murphy
Finance Committee Chair
Partner & Head of Research
Saguenay Strathmore Capital
The Centre At Purchase

Robert M. Rifkin, MD, FACP
Attending Physician
Rocky Mountain Cancer Centers

Barry M. Straube, M.D.
Director
The Marwood Group

Lori Williams, PhD, MSN, RN
Assistant Professor
Department of Symptom Research
The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center

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Scientific Committee

F. Marc Stewart, MD
Chair, Scientific Advisory Committee
Professor of Medicine, University of Washington
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center

Charles Balch, MD, FACS
Co-Chair, Scientific Advisory Committee
Professor of Surgery
Division of Surgical Oncology
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center

Pamela S. Becker, MD, PhD
Associate Professor of Medicine/Hematology
Institute of Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine
University of Washington

Al Benson III, MD, FACP
GI Medical Oncology (Professor of Medicine)
Associate Director for Clinical Investigations at the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center
Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine

David M. Brizel, MD
Leonard R. Prosnitz Professor of Radiation Oncology
Professor in Head and Neck Surgery
Duke University Medical Center

Pamela S. Douglas, MD, MACC
Ursula Geller Professor of Research in Cardiovascular Diseases
Director of Imaging Program at DCRI
Duke University Medical Center

Jean G. Ford, MD
Chair, Department of Medicine
The Brooklyn Hospital Center

Nicholas J. Petrelli, MD, FACS
Medical Director
Helen F. Graham Cancer Center

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Honorary Board

Martha E. “Meg” Gaines, JD, LLM
Clinical Professor of Law
University of Wisconsin
Madison, WI

Roy Ramthun, MSPH

Richard D. Carter, Esquire
Partner
Coleman Ragland PLC

The Honorable Mary T. Christian
Virginia House of Delegates (Retired)

Jonathan B. Perlin, MD, PhD, MSHA, FACP, FACMI
President, Clinical Services and Chief Medical Officer
HCA, Inc. (Hospital Corporation of America)
Nashville, TN

Edward G. Connette, Esquire
Essex Richards, PA

The Honorable Pat Dougherty
Missouri State Senate (Retired)
Senior Director of Advocacy, Catholic Charities of St. Louis

William T. "Bill" McGiveny, PhD

Paula Trahan-Rieger, RN, MSN, AOCN, FAAN
CEO
Oncology Nursing Society

Leo E. Sands
Executive Vice President & Chief Administrative Officer (Retired)

Doris Simonson
Mother of Cheryl Grimmel

Sheldon Weinhaus, Esquire
Weinhaus & Potashnick

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PAF Leaders

Nancy Davenport-Ennis
Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer

John H. Ennis
Co-Founder & Chief Development Officer

Fran Castellow, MSEd.
President of Operations

Beth Patterson
President of Mission Delivery

Pam Cleck
Chief of Financial Aid Programs

Kevin Cox
Chief Information Officer

Erin Moaratty
Chief of Mission Delivery

Bill Nason, MBA
Chief Operating Officer

Alan Richardson
Chief Development Operations Officer

Angela Walker, SPHR
Chief Human Resource Officer