ADVOCATE PROFILE: SUSAN WEINER
Throughout our 25th anniversary year, we’re featuring advocates who’ve been nominated by the childhood cancer community for their outstanding contributions toward our mission of improving the lives of children with cancer and survivors.
Our first featured advocate is our founder, Susan L. Weiner, PhD.
Susan founded Children’s Cancer Cause in 1999 (originally The Children’s Cause, Inc.) to highlight the need for new therapies and quality care for children with cancer and survivors, and to empower families and survivors to become leaders in pediatric cancer advocacy.
Dr. Weiner, whose son Adam was a 13-year cancer survivor, has been key to bringing childhood cancer research and survivorship care to the forefront of the national cancer policy agenda. She has served on multiple committees of the National Cancer Institute, the Food and Drug Administration, the US Department of Health and Human Services and the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Weiner is also the founder of the Mary McDowell Friends School, a nearly 40 year-old K-12 independent school for children with learning disabilities in New York City,
Dr. Weiner was the first patient advocate to receive ASCO's 2017 Partners in Progress Award and was the first U.S. advocate on ACCELERATE’s Steering Committee, an international platform on the development of new pediatric cancer therapies. She was the Children's Brain Tumor Foundation’s first executive director. and oversaw its research grant awards, initiated the Pediatric Brain Tumor Consortium Foundation, and started other nonprofit programs serving patients and families.