LOS ANGELES, CALIF. – (JULY 11, 2024) – The Pancreatic Cancer Action Network (PanCAN), the leading nonprofit in the fight against pancreatic cancer, announces three new members to its Board of Directors effective July 1, 2024; Sharon Bittman, Preston Brice and Nicole Rubin.

“We are honored to welcome these distinguished members to the Board of Directors who bring diverse expertise and insight to our work,” said Julie Fleshman, JD, MBA, president and CEO of PanCAN. “Our Board comprises strong, dedicated leaders who collectively use their expertise and personal connection to pancreatic cancer to help PanCAN accelerate progress for patients so they can thrive.”

In addition, Karen Young will serve as the new Chair of the Board and Linda E. Amuso will become Vice Chair. Young has served as a board member since 2018 and Amuso joined in 2022.

The PanCAN Board of Directors consists of 17 members who are elected for a three-year term and can serve for up to three terms. The new members are leaders that come from a variety of backgrounds who will help PanCAN achieve its mission. The Board provides leadership, expertise, and governance so that the organization can take bold action to improve the lives of everyone impacted by pancreatic cancer:

  • Sharon Bittman, Mountain Lakes, NJ: Bittman is the President of Vision Creative Group Inc., a full-service advertising and marketing communications agency that specializes in providing strategically powered creative solutions for everything from social media to print marketing. She brings over 30 years of experience in the marketing/advertising world as well as strategic thought leadership to PanCAN. Bittman became passionate about PanCAN’s mission, particularly early detection of the disease, after her husband Andy passed away just a matter of days after he was diagnosed in 2018. Since his passing and her first PanCAN PurpleStride, her team Andy’s Avengers, has been one of the top fundraising teams in Parsippany, NJ.
  • Preston Brice, New York, NY: Brice is a Partner with Grant Avenue Capital, a New York-based healthcare-focused private equity firm. He has spent the last 18 years of his career focused on a variety of roles in the healthcare services and healthcare information technology sectors from investment banking to growth equity and private equity. In April of 2014, his mother was diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer, and through online research, learned about PanCAN Patient Services. Brice’s mom lived for another two years, and the entire family got actively involved with PanCAN and PurpleStride. Through this experience, he was inspired to seek other ways to give back to this incredible cause. Brice is looking forward to using his deep knowledge of the healthcare ecosystem to expand engagement with PanCAN’s existing resources, while also leveraging PanCAN’s unique position to drive potential new service offerings.
  • Nicole Rubin, Portola Valley, CA: Rubin has dedicated her career to impacting the health and well-being of humankind as a leader in the nonprofit and health care sectors. For the last fifteen years, she has worked as a consultant for Ronald McDonald House Charities Global, leading their global research initiative on family-centered care and previously serving as a program officer for their maternal and child health global grants program. Rubin is excited to be a part of helping advance early detection initiatives for pancreatic cancer and developing creative strategies for improving survival and support for a disease that has such poor prognosis in many clinical cases.

In addition to the new members joining PanCAN’s Board of Directors, the organization acknowledges the leadership of Michael A.G. Korengold as his term ends and he steps down as Chair of the Board. Korengold served as a Board member for the past 10 years.

“We are very grateful to Michael for his dedication to PanCAN’s mission,” said Fleshman. “We are excited to have our newly elected members joining us as we continue our critical work in helping lead PanCAN to its 2030 goals of increasing the five-year survival rate to 20%, raising awareness to 30% and raising $80M annually.”

The FY2025 PanCAN Board of Directors:

Officers:
Karen Young, Chair
Linda E. Amuso, Vice Chair

Directors:
Jay T. Backstrom, MD, MPH
Sharon Bittman
Preston Brice
Peter Cashion
Dennis Cronin
Rich Hume
Barbara J. Kenner, PhD
Lisa Kulok
Eric Park, CPA
Craig A. Rogerson
Mace Rothenberg, MD
Nicole Rubin
Nancy Stagliano, PhD
Karyn A. Temple
Rod Williams, MBA

For more information about the PanCAN Board of Directors and to read member bios, visit pancan.org.

To learn more about PanCAN and its mission to save lives, visit pancan.org or follow PanCAN on X, Instagram, LinkedIn and Facebook.