About Us 
Mission Statement
The Head and Neck Cancer Alliance seeks to enable an organized and strategic alliance of all stakeholders to dramatically shift the stage of discovery of head and neck cancers through united and collaborative efforts in prevention, early detection and research.
Our mission involves:
- Providing support to head and neck cancer patients throughout the year
- Supporting ongoing research in head and neck oncology
- Educating children and adults in the disease process, treatment and prevention of head and neck cancer
About Us
The Head and Neck Cancer Alliance (HNCA) was established in 2008 to create a coalition in the fight against head and neck cancer. Formerly the Yul Brynner Head and Neck Cancer Foundation, HNCA expands on existing strengths to enhance the overall effort in prevention, detection, treatment and rehabilitation. Our mission focuses on six key areas:
- Public awareness
- Professional engagement
- Research
- Advocacy
- Survivorship
- Resources development
Board Members:
Terry Day, M.D., FACS
Professor and Clinical Vice Chairman
Director, Division of Head and Neck Oncologic Surgery
Medical University of South Carolina
President, Head and Neck Cancer Alliance
Dr. Day received his medical degree from the University of Oklahoma. He completed his residency at Louisiana State University before pursuing a fellowship in head and neck oncologic surgery at the University of California, Davis and in craniomaxillofacial surgery at Inselspital-Bern in Bern, Switzerland. Following fellowship, he joined the faculty in the Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee and is now Professor and Director of the Division of Head and Neck Oncologic Surgery in the Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery. Dr. Day is the Director of the Head and Neck Tumor Center at the Medical University of South Carolina, and past Chair of the Coordinating Council of the statewide South Carolina Cancer Alliance. He currently serves on the Board of Directors for the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery and is past member of the Council for the American Head and Neck Society. He also serves on the Head and Neck Surgical Subcommittee for RTOG and member of the National Cancer Institute's Head and Neck Steering Committee. Dr. Day volunteers his time as President of the Head and Neck Cancer Alliance and leads the international Oral and Head and Neck Cancer Awareness Week annually with a goal of helping to reduce the impact of head and neck cancer on people worldwide.
Since completion of his fellowship, Dr. Day has limited his practice to patients with tumors of the head and neck region, including skull base, thyroid, and salivary gland. His goals for patient care include a “comprehensive and multidisciplinary approach to each patient to provide the best cure, quality of life, and cosmesis.” Dr. Day lives in Mt. Pleasant with his wife and two children.
Jennifer Bland
My husband was diagnosed in January 2009 with tongue cancer at age 36. We have two daughters ages 10 and 5. Jason passed away on June 7, 2010 after a long and courageous 18 month battle. I became involved in every aspect of Jason’s treatment along with many hours of research and one thing I found that was very disturbing was the fact that the statistics in oral tongue cancers haven’t changed much over the years. That is a travesty to me, that the research has not furthered itself in this type of cancer like it has in so many others.
Since 2009 I have helped sponsor many fundraisers in Jason’s name to raise money for Fiest Weiller’s Head and Neck Cancer Research and to raise awareness on the importance of early detection along with educating the public about the dangers of tobacco use. Since Jason’s diagnosis I have become very involved with anything that has to do with raising awareness or educating others about head and neck cancer. I am on the founding board of the Head and Neck Cancer Alliance for Northwest LA. Jason and I also became involved with our local chapter of the American Cancer Society. We have one of the largest Relay for Life teams in the Bossier Relay for Life, we are honorary chairmen for the American Cancer Society’s Barons Ball that will be held on August 21, 2010, and on August 20, 2010 Willis Knighton Sports Medicine and Willis Knighton Cancer Center is sponsoring a Head and Neck Cancer Awareness night in honor of Jason at the Captains game, (a local minor league baseball team). This will be an annual event that can only continue to grow by leaps and bounds and in the future I am hoping that we will also be able to offer free head and neck screenings to those that are in attendance. I made a promise to Jason that I would do everything in my power with the resources that I have to help make the statistics of oral tongue cancer change for the better. My hope is that in my lifetime, I will have done enough to educate the public about early detection and the dangers of tobacco along with involving myself with funding for research and development that Head and Neck Cancer survivors will have a better quality of life than they do now along with a greater cure.
Mary Beth Chalk
Chapter Representative, South Carolina
Mary Beth Chalk is a head and neck surgical oncology nurse practitioner. She graduated with a BS in nursing from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. After many years of practicing as an RN, mainly in ICU’s and PACU, she returned to graduate school and completed her MSN at the Medical University of South Carolina. She is currently working as a Head and Neck Surgical Oncology Nurse Practitioner at the Medical University of South Carolina. She is active in her local chapter of the Head and Neck Cancer Alliance and has participated in oral head and neck cancer screenings for the last five years.
Jerry Del Gaudio
Vice President of Corporate Strategy, UPS
Jerry began his career with UPS in Philadelphia in 1976. While completing his undergraduate degree in Accounting and Management at LaSalle University in Philadelphia, he worked part time in UPS Operations. While working in numerous UPS management positions, Jerry completed his MBA at LaSalle. In 1985 he was named Controller in the Arkansas district and in 1987 was promoted to New York City in the same capacity. After assignments in Corporate Finance, Long Range Strategic Planning and Strategic Cost, Jerry was named as CFO of UPS Airlines in 1996.
In 1999, Jerry was named Vice President of Marketing responsible for New Product Development, Marketing Technologies and Marketing Strategies at the UPS Global Corporate Office. In 2000, Jerry completed an Advanced Management Program at the University of Pennsylvania, Wharton School of Business. In 2004, Jerry accepted the assignment as Vice President of International Trade Services at UPS Supply Chain Solutions. His responsibilities include oversight of the company’s customs brokerage operations and UPS Trade Management Services in over 100 countries around the world. In 2007, Jerry was named to his current position as Vice President of Corporate Strategy.
Joel B. Epstein, DMD, MSD, FRCD(C), FDS RCSE
Dr. Epstein graduated from Dentistry in 1976 from the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. He received a certificate in Oral Medicine and Masters' of Science Degree in Dentistry from the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington, USA, in 1979. He is a Fellow of the College of Dental Surgeons of Canada in Oral Medicine/Oral Pathology and a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh. He is a Diplomat of the American Board of Oral Medicine and was an examiner and President of the Board of Oral Medicine. He was Professor and Head of the Department of Oral Medicine and Diagnostic Sciences and is currently Professor in the Department of Oral Medicine and Diagnostic Sciences, and Director of the Interdisciplinary Program in Oral Cancer Biology, Prevention and Treatment at the Chicago Cancer Center, College of Medicine, Adjunct Professor in the Department of Otolaryngology and Head and Surgery of the University of Illinois at Chicago and on staff at Rush Medical Center and Advocate Illinois Masonic Hospital in Chicago. Prior to relocating to Chicago, he was Professor of Oral Medicine and Director of the Graduate Program in Oral Medicine, and the DECOD (Dental Care for the Disabled) Program, at the University of Washington, Seattle WA. He was on the medical/dental staff of the British Columbia Cancer Agency; and Head of the Department of Dentistry at Vancouver Hospital and Health Sciences Centre; as well as on staff at other teaching hospitals in Vancouver, British Columbia, and a Clinical Professor in the Faculty of Dentistry at the University of British Columbia. He is a Lecturer in the Department of Oral Medicine, Eastman Dental Institute for Oral Health Care Sciences, University of London, London, U.K.. He conducts a private referral practice in Oral Medicine. Dr. Epstein has published in the area of oncology, infectious disease, facial pain and general areas of Oral Medicine, with more than five hundred and fifty contributions to the literature in the form of papers, abstracts, text books, and book chapters.
Dr. Epstein is married to Geena, a Registered Nurse who has worked in hospitals, co-directed a Lipid clinic in Seattle and is a study coordinator in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Northwestern University. They have three sons, Josh is working in pharmaceutical economics at Baxter Inc and completing his PhD at the University of Southern California, Matthew is an Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Resident at St. Joseph’s Hospital, Paterson, New Jersey, and Daniel completed his Bachelor’s degree in philosophy and business and is President of SWAE sports, a web-based business in adventure sports and Director of the Unreasonable Institute, a global social entrepreneurship program in Boulder CO.
Rui Fernandes, DMD, MD, FACS
Assistant Professor
Department of Surgery
Division of Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery
Section of Head Neck Surgery
Division of Surgical Oncology
University of Florida College of Medicine - Jacksonville
Dr. Fernandes is an assistant professor in the Department of Surgery, Divisions of Oral & Maxillofacial surgery and Surgical Oncology at the University of Florida College of MedicineJacksonville. He serves as section chief of Head & Neck Surgery and as director for both residency training in Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery and of the Microvascular surgery fellowship. Dr. Fernandes has lectured extensively throughout the United States and abroad (Europe, Latin America and the Middle East). He has authored numerous scientific papers and book chapters. Dr. Fernandes serves as a reviewer for several of the major Oral & Maxillofacial surgery journals and Head and Neck Journal. He is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons, the American Head and Neck Society (where he served in the education committee), a founding fellow of the International Academy of Oral Oncology, a member of the American Radium Society, the American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery and numerous other societies.
Jerome C. Goldstein, M.D. FACS, FRCSEd
Former EVP, AAO-HNS
Founding President, Yul Brynner Head and Neck Cancer Foundation
Meryl Kaufman, M.Ed., CCC-SLP
Speech Language Pathologist
The Emory Voice Center
Emory University
Department of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery
Atlanta, GA
Meryl Kaufman is a licensed Speech Language Pathologist with specialization in the evaluation and treatment of patients with swallowing disorders and head and neck cancer. She has been on staff in the departments of Otolaryngology at the Medical College of Georgia, the Medical University of South Carolina, and the University of Alabama-Birmingham. In addition, Ms. Kaufman was an adjunct professor in the College of Health Professions at the Medical University of South Carolina and a clinical supervisor at Georgia State University. She has instructed graduate speech pathology courses on the subjects of Dysphagia, Voice Disorders, and Head and Neck Cancer. Ms. Kaufman was actively engaged in the South Carolina ChapterYul Brynner Foundation at its inception and served as the awareness week chair in 2000 and 2001. Ms. Kaufman was also the president of the GA chapter of the Head and Neck Cancer Alliance (formerly Yul Brynner Foundation) from 2006-2009 and served on the interim board of directors of the national organization. She joined the Emory Voice Center, Emory University Department of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery 2007. Her primary interests include prevention of dysphagia in patients undergoing organ preservation treatment for head and neck cancer as well as voice restoration post laryngectomy. She is committed to early detection, education, and awareness of head and neck cancer through screening, education, and community outreach. She lives in Dunwoody, GA with her husband and three children.
Michael Moore, MD
Dr. Moore is an Assistant Professor of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis, Indiana. His clinical practice focuses on head and neck cancer and reconstructive surgery, as well as skull base surgery. Dr. Moore has also been working with other members of the HNCA and people in the Indianapolis community to put on annual free oral and head and neck cancer screenings at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway during the Brickyard 400 NASCAR race.
Iman Naseri, M.D.
Assistant Professor
University of Florida
College of Medicine - Jacksonville
Division of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery
It was my family’s experience with oral cancer which led to my realization of the disparities that exist in the support & treatment of many types of head and neck cancers. The motivation that I gained from this experience provided the momentum to pursue a career in medicine and to specialize in the field of otolaryngology head and neck surgery. Early in my career, I was inspired by the dedication of Dr. Terry Day through his leadership with the Yul Brynner Head & Neck Cancer Foundation. It has now been over nine years since my involvement as a volunteer with this foundation. My medical training continued at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, where I helped with the organization of a volunteer committee for local efforts such as regional cancer awareness and education, free screenings, and recruitment of support for our mission.
In the last two years, I have witnessed the remarkable expansion of this organization and its transition into a more comprehensive alliance, the Head And Neck Cancer Alliance (HNCA). As an alliance, the HNCA has gained the support of an increasing number of organizations that share common goals regarding the provision of support, research, and education to patients and families dealing with cancers of the head and neck. As a practicing academic otolaryngologist at the University of Florida - Jacksonville, I have the distinct honor of serving as a member of the HNCA board of trustees. I serve as a co-chair of the international committee alongside one of the most distinguished head and neck surgeons, Dr. Jatin Shah. My objective will be to cultivate alliances with the professional community and organizations in the international arena. This will be in the form of various collaborative engagements in support of activities designed to increase awareness, education and support for patients and families afflicted by cancers of the head and neck.
Cherie-Ann Nathan, M.D., F.A.C.S.
Cherie-Ann Nathan is professor and vice-chairman of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center in Shreveport and Director of Head and Neck Surgery and Research at the Feist-Weiller Cancer Center. In addition to a busy clinical practice in head and neck surgery, she has an active translational research program in molecular targeted therapy for head and neck cancer and more recently in chemoprevention with nutraceuticals. Both these programs are NIH funded and have moved forward from the bench to clinical trials. She serves on the NCI task force for previously untreated locally advanced head and neck cancer.
Since 1996 her site has been actively involved in the free screenings and education for head and neck cancer. More recently using the Partners in Wellness mobile van they have extended their screenings in 2009 to homeless shelters and in 2010 to college campuses and the Air Force Base during the airshow. She is committed to improving survival in her head and neck patients through early detection and research.
Steven M. Roser, DMD, M.D.
Medical Director, Georgia Chapter, HANCA
DeLos Hill Professor of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery
Chief, Division of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery
Emory University School of Medicine
Chief, Section of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Egleston Hospital
Childrens Healthcare of Atlanta
Originally from Boston, Massachusetts, Roser received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Middlebury College in Vermont. He went on to earn both a dental degree and medical degree from Harvard University, and trained in oral and maxillofacial surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital. Currently Roser serves as the Delos Hill Professor of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, and Chief of the Division of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at Emory University School of Medicine. He is also a Diplomat of the American Board of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery and Fellow of the American College of Surgeons. Roser’s clinical and research interests include reconstructive maxillofacial surgery.
Jatin P. Shah, M.D., Ph.D, (Hon)FACS, FRCS (Hon), FDSRCS (Hon), FRACS (Hon) Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, USA
Professor Shah has been the recipient of numerous awards from various parts of the world, and is the recipient of honorary fellowships from The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, London and Australia. He holds Honorary PhD degrees from the Catholic University of Louvain, in Belgium and the University of Athens, in Greece. He is recipient of the Blokhin Gold medal, the highest Honor in Oncology in Russia, and is recipient of the “Ellis Island Medal of Honor”, for his contributions to the United States as an ethnic migrant. He has been elected as an honorary member of several head and neck societies in Europe, Asia, Australia, Africa and Latin America. He has been continuously listed in the “Best Doctors in America” directories for the past two decades. He serves on the Editorial and Review Boards of 18 scientific journals and has published over 300 peer-reviewed articles, 50 book chapters and 7 books. His textbook of Head and Neck Surgery and Oncology won First Prize from The British Medical Association and The Royal Society of Medicine and was awarded the George Davey Howells Prize from the University of London, for the best published book in otolaryngology in the preceding five years.
He is a much sought after speaker who has delivered over 1000 scientific presentations including, 59 eponymous lectures and keynote addresses, and visiting professorships in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Scotland, Sweden, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Spain, Poland, Russia,Croatia, Turkey, Egypt, South Africa, India, China, Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Philippines, Australia, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Peru, Ecuador, Venezuela, Panama, and Mexico.
In recognition of his outstanding contributions, and World Leadership in Head and Neck Surgery, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, has established the “Jatin Shah Chair in Head and Neck Surgery and Oncology”, the International Federation of Head and Neck Oncologic Societies has established “The Jatin Shah Lecture”, at its world congresses, and the American Head and Neck Society has established the “Jatin Shah Symposium” at its annual meeting.