Amplifying the Needs of Caregivers

Darci Perkins is Grants Coordinator for EMD Serono, based in Washington, D.C. She joined the company in October 2021 and supports the Global Patient Insights and Advocacy and Global Strategic Partnerships teams through their partnerships with patient and caregiver advocacy organizations. Darci is also the owner and CEO of RMJ Editing and Manuscripts, LLC based in Prince George’s County. She is an ordained minister for more than twenty years and has been pastoring for nine years. Darci is the head of The Right Resources at The Right Time, an initiative that connects people to organizations for housing, clothing, and food. She is a vocalist for the Gospel Music Workshop of America National Praise Team. Darci is the mother of three children - Robert, Marcus and Jada Perkins - and the proud grandmother of four: Michai, Londyn, Noah and Khaleesi.

Wanda Green is a Native Californian. She is currently residing in Southern California with her family. She is a family caregiver shy of ten years and a lupus survivor of 16 ½ years. She initially became a caregiver while on a walker from a rare disease when her mom suffered a stroke. Their lives and roles changed overnight. Her priority is to provide her mom with the best possible care during her multiple illnesses. As a result, she learned how to navigate the road of being an advocate in the caregiving and patient spaces.

Appalled by inappropriate collective experiences, she uses her voice as an advocate to take agency. Each medical encounter became an opportunity to overcome the hurdles to fight for access, shine a light on health equity, advance to alignment, express gaslighting tendencies, and establish being taken seriously as a caregiver to ensure her mom receives quality care. Hoping to help others navigate caregiving life as an advocate, she took positive action.

She has the heart to help others which led to creating an IG platform called Empowering Patients & Caregivers (@empowering_pc) as a space for the community to share their stories, gain resources, and be supportive on their respective journeys.

Faith Mutale is an Oncology Nurse Practitioner in collaborative practice at the Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, PA, a comprehensive cancer center, where she specializes in head & neck and thoracic cancer and has been in this role since 2004.

Prior to joining the Abramson Cancer Center, Faith worked as an oncology homecare nurse/case manager for four years. In this capacity she provided care for oncology patients with diverse hematology and oncology diagnoses in the home.

Faith plays an active role and participates in numerous meetings with a focus on head & neck and lung cancer and has been invited to numerous advisory board meetings related to treatment and mitigation of treatment toxicities in these cancers.

Faith obtained her master’s and Post-Master’s and Doctor of Nursing Practice degrees at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing. Her Bachelor’s degree of Science in Nursing is from Eastern University in Saint Davids, PA. Faith is also an active participant in the Greater Philadelphia Oncology APN Networking Group. She has lectured nationally and internationally on a variety of topics related to head & neck and lung cancers, treatment, and symptom management as well as other issues related to diversity and inclusion of minorities in cancer clinical trials. She also lectures on head & neck cancer in the Master’s Oncology Program at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing where she is an adjunct faculty member.

Her collaborative publication appeared in the January 2008 issue of the Oncology Nursing Forum. This work was recognized with the ONS Excellence in Writing Award for Quantitative Nursing Research. This work was done in collaboration with Karen Schumacher, PhD, RN previously at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing. Her other collaborative publications include works with Dr Joshua Bauml at the University of Pennsylvania's Abramson Cancer Center with a focus on head & neck and thoracic cancers. Her most recent work on Immunotherapy was published in the JONS, and an editorial opinion on social determinants of health (SDH) in patients with head & neck cancer published Oncology Connection.

Lisa Petgrave-Nelson is a Licensed Master Social Worker, a Certified Oncology Social Worker, a trained End-of life-Doula, and an NYU Zelda Foster Leadership Fellow.

She is also a student at Wurzweiler School of Social Work where she is currently pursuing her DSW degree, Doctorate in Social Work.

She has worked in direct practice with chronically ill adults for over twenty years in settings that include Emory University Hospital, Cancer Treatment Centers of America, and The Cancer Institute at St. Francis Hospital.

Her education and career has focused on her passion for advocating for and supporting cancer patients and their families.

An invited presenter at a variety of venues, she is educating professionals and social work students about issues related to grief, diversity & inclusion and cultural humility.

These topics have been the focus of her research study entitled COVID-19 Narratives: Stories from the Oncology Setting, and many of her published articles and presentations including The Journal of End of Life & Palliative Care.

Lisa remains an ardent advocate for healthcare equity especially for those in under-served communities.