NEW YORK, Oct. 20, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- After a
successful battle with cancer, actress Marcia Cross has launched non-profit
organization HPV Alliance and a second career as a health advocate.
In 2019, the actress went public about her cancer diagnosis and
recovery. Since then, she has joined forces with another activist
and patient advocate Lillian Kreppel
to launch HPV Alliance.
As survivors of HPV-associated cancer, Ms. Cross and Ms. Kreppel
saw a need to de-stigmatize Human Papillomavirus (HPV) and shed
light on the seven types of cancer that have been found to be
caused by this infection. Ms. Kreppel is HPV Alliance's Executive
Director, responsible for overseeing the organization's mission and
operations.
"HPV Alliance's goal is to spread knowledge and save lives
through education about HPV and the seven associated cancers it
causes. Through a variety of initiatives that will fill information
gaps in both the medical community and public understanding, HPV
Alliance aims to de-stigmatize HPV by normalizing conversations
around the virus, empowering individuals to advocate for their
health, and encouraging medical providers to develop a greater
understanding of the virus and implement standards of practice to
better prevent, monitor, detect, and treat HPV and HPV-associated
cancers in their patients." – Lillian
Kreppel, Executive Director and Co-Founder of HPV
Alliance
HPV Alliance has organized three advisory boards comprised of
leading medical specialists, corporate and non-profit advisors, and
social influencers who will help direct HPV Alliance's programs and
engagement efforts.
"The HPV Alliance will do two important things. First it will
work to educate the public about this very misunderstood and
ubiquitous virus. Secondly, it will work to facilitate changes in
the medical profession to more effectively deal with the detection,
prevention and treatment of HPV. We are thrilled to have an
incredible board of medical experts who are dedicated to this
mission." – Marcia Cross, Actress
and Co-Founder of HPV Alliance
Corporate Advisory Board
Andrew Ackerman | Consultant,
Strategic Planning
Shazia Ahmad | Director of Patient
and Physician Services, UBC
Melissa DeFreece, MBA | Partner,
Kolektif | V
Dan Lifton, MBA | CEO, Quality of
Life Labs
Danielle Reilly Weed | CEO, Media
Tonic
Lauren Dillon Thomas | Founder,
Triad Resource Group
Medical Advisory Board
Abraham Aragones, MD | Internal
Medicine, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Marcelo W.B. Araujo, DDS, MS, PhD |
Vice President, Science Institute
Ashley Burton Arkema, BA, BSN, CNP |
Nurse Practitioner, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Stephanie V. Blank, MD | Director of
Gynecologic Oncology, Mount Sinai Health System
Michael Gaisa, MD | Associate Professor of Medicine, Icahn School
of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Stephen E. Goldstone, MD, FACS | Assistant Clinical Professor of
Surgery, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Karen A. Goodman, MD MS | Professor and Vice Chair of Research in
Radiation Oncology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Peter Halperin, MD | Board Certified Dermatologist, The New York
Presbyterian Hospital
Aaron E. Katz, MD, FACS | Chairman
of Urology, NYU Winthrop Hospital of Urology | Professor of
Urology, NYU School of Medicine
Carl McDougall, MD | Associate
Clinical Professor of Medicine, Weill Medical
College of Cornell University
Marshall Posner, MD | Professor of
Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Paul Romesser, MD | Assistant Professor in Radiation Oncology,
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Keith Seigel, MD, PhD | Associate
Professor, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Judith A Smith, PharmD, BCOP, CPHQ, FCCP, FISOPP | Professor of
Obstetrics and Gynecology, McGovern Medical School at University of Texas
Social Impact Board
Marcia Cross | Actress and
Advocate
Jamie Otis-Hehner | Reality
Television Personality, Married at First Sight
Reality television personality, author, and social influencer,
Jamie Otis Hehner, best known for
Married at First Sight, The Bachelor, and the Podcast Hot
Marriage. Cool Parents. partnered with the organization after a
prenatal examination revealed she has HPV.
"I hope that by being a part of HPV Alliance I can learn to
be my own advocate and show others that they can, too. Like any
taboo subject, the more you talk about it, the less taboo it
becomes. There is so much shame and stigma associated with any STD
or STI, but the fact that HPV affects 80% of the population creates
a heightened need for its awareness. We need more people sharing
resources and facts on HPV. I am still learning all about HPV
myself and I hope to help others by being honest about my journey.
If nothing else, I hope to help de-stigmatize the topic." –
Jamie Otis Hehner
HPV Alliance is headquartered in New
York, NY.
To schedule an interview with a member of the HPV Alliance team
and learn more about the organization, please contact Media
Tonic.
Photos:
https://www.prlog.org/12843386
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SOURCE HPV Alliance