Special
Feature
The 1ST Annual Pink Pioneer List
Meet the Champions of the Pink Vaccine
The Champions of the Pink Vaccine are four breast cancer survivors, Judy Fitzgerald, Elyn Jacobs, Cindy Sullivan
and Toni Turchi, and one breast cancer surgeon, Dr. Kathleen Ruddy. Their mission is to educate women about the
existence of the world’s first preventive breast cancer vaccine, developed at the Cleveland Clinic by Dr. Vincent
Tuohy, and their goal is to insure the vaccine receives the funding it needs to begin clinical trials in women.
Elyn Jacobs is the creator and show
host of the Survive and Live Well Radio
Show on the Cancer Support Network
and Executive Director of the Emerald
Heart Cancer Foundation. Breast cancer
is no stranger to Elyn who was diagnosed
in January 2007, the same year her
mother would die from this disease and
her older sister would be diagnosed. She
realized there was much she needed
to learn about cancer; it’s causes, cures
and prevention. Her research and experiences led her
to realize there was more needed than just medical
interventions for cancer. She now empower others to
find the best team and treatment, to change the cancer
environment and to move on to a life of wellness. Now
52 years old, Elyn is a 6 year breast cancer thriver.
Toni Turchi, 55, was diagnosed
with triple-negative breast cancer
(TNBC) in March of 2011. Only
10-20 percent of all breast cancers
are triple-negative, it’s one of the
most aggressive forms of breast
cancers. She’s been a runner for
thirty years, has always taken care
of herself and hadn’t missed an
annual mammogram in thirteen years…no one is
exempt from this disease! In 2012, she launched
the Toni Turchi Foundation, a 501(c)(3) corporation whose mission prioritizes [solely] on finding a
prevention for breast cancer. She was introduced to
the “Champions” as a result of their mutual goal……
to save the lives of our next generation.
“It is far better to prevent cancer than to treat
it. While we can do both with diet and lifestyle
changes, we live in a contaminated world: we
breathe polluted air, drink chemically treated
water and eat poisoned food. Therefore, to truly
wipe out cancer, we need to live an anticancer
life to the best of our abilities, and we need the
extra protection of a safe and effective vaccine.”
— Elyn Jacobs
Judy Fitzgerald, 57, is a 4 year
survivor of bilateral breast cancer,
Founder of Sisters4Prevention,
a retired school t eacher and an
author. When diagnosed in 2009,
throughout her year of treatment,
she kept a journal and sought any and all, information on strategies used by successful cancer survivors
to prevent recurrence. She discovered that successful
“thrivers” had remarkably similar strategies concerning diet and lifestyle changes. Wanting to share what
she had learned the idea for her book, A Teacher’s
Journey…What Breast Cancer Taught Me was born. It
was during Judy’s research on cancer prevention
that she first learned of Dr. Tuohy’s Vaccine and
knew she had to do something to help. Judy founded
Sisters4Prevention, a non profit organization
dedicated to gaining the funding necessary for the
Cleveland Clinic breast cancer vaccine clinical trials.
“I imagine the day when we can say, ‘Remember what
it was like before the vaccine…thank God, thanks to Dr.
Vincent Tuohy, we no longer have to fear the horror of
breast cancer.’” — Judy Fitzgerald
“My hope is that we find a collaborative and promising solution between our government, pharmaceutical
companies, scientists, medical professionals and advocacy groups resulting in our mutual goal………to eradicate
the disease of breast cancer.” — Toni Turchi
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THE PINK PAPER
Fall 2013
www.thepinkpaper.com