National Conference Speaker Listing

2023 Virtual National Conference on Work & Cancer Speakers

Below, learn more about the speakers presenting at the 2023 National Conference on Work & Cancer. Additional speakers will be added.

Peter Adintori, MS, RD, CSO, CDN, CNSC

Peter Adintori, MS, RD, CSO, CDN, CNSC is a clinical research dietitian at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. He is a board certified specialist in oncology nutrition and a certified nutrition support clinician. Peter researches the impact of dietary patterns on changes in the gut microbiome after blood and marrow transplantation. He is also a PhD student in Rehabilitation Sciences at New York University, where he is researching the impact of nutrition, physical therapy, and mental health interventions on the outcomes that patients have during treatment for blood cancers. Peter's focus is on improving the lives of patients going through cancer treatment, and he prioritizes a patient-centered, individualized approach in both his clinical care and his research.

Alan Astrow, MD, FACP

Alan Astrow is Chief of the Division of Hematology/Medical Oncology at New York–Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital, where he focuses on the care and medical treatment of breast and gynecological cancers. He is also Professor of Clinical Medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College.

Dr. Astrow has a long-standing interest in improving communication between doctor and patient. At NY–PBMH he is working with the medical center leadership to develop a clinical cancer center in collaboration with Weill Cornell Medicine and to make available the full range of Weill Cornell cancer program clinical trials.

A Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Yale University, Dr. Astrow obtained his MD from the Yale School of Medicine. He did his internal residency at Boston City Hospital and his fellowship in hematology and medical oncology at NYU Medical Center.

Dr. Astrow has received several awards and is included in New York Magazine’s list of Best Doctors in New York and the Castle Connolly Guide to Top Doctors New York Metro Region. He serves the editorial advisory board for the Art of Oncology section of the Journal of Clinical Oncology and on the advisory board for the annual Conference on Medicine and Religion.

Victoria Blinder, MD, MSc

Victoria Blinder, MD, MSc, is a board-certified medical oncologist, dedicated to the treatment of patients with breast cancer at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. Her research focuses on employment disparities during and after treatment for breast cancer, as well as the financial and quality-of-life sequelae of these disparities. Dr. Blinder has conducted qualitative and quantitative research on barriers to return to work among ethnically and socioeconomically diverse breast cancer survivors in NYC and California. She is the principal investigator of Breast Cancer and the Workforce, a large multi-center, prospective, longitudinal study of disparities in employment outcomes among African-American, Chinese, Korean, Latina, and non-Latina white NYC breast cancer survivors, funded by the American Cancer Society. Preliminary data from the nearly completed study led to the development of an NCI-funded intervention, currently in pilot testing, to improve job retention.

Dr. Blinder also serves the larger oncology community through committee work with the American Society of Clinical Oncology and the Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology. In addition, she has partnered with other nonprofit and business groups to develop a free, publicly available, employer-targeted intervention to help supervisors in corporations accommodate employees who are cancer survivors (http://workplacetransitions.org/).

Isabella Ferrari, MCN, RD, CSO, LD

Isabella Ferrari graduated from her Master’s Degree in Clinical Nutrition from UT Southwestern in 2018. She worked at Parkland Hospital for 3 years while covering the Outpatient Cancer Clinics as needed. She obtained her CSO (Certified Specialist in Oncology) in 2021 and now works at Doherty Nutrition as their main Oncology Dietitian.

Jenny B. Fine

Jenny B. Fine has been Executive Editor, Beauty, for WWD since November 2017. She joined the company in November 2001 as Editor-in-Chief of Beauty Inc. Prior to joining Beauty Inc, Jenny was Editor of Luckymag.com, where she was responsible for overseeing its launch and editorial content. She was previously Director of iVillage.com’s Beauty Channel and Beauty Director at SELF. She began her career in magazine publishing at Fairchild, where she served as Senior Associate Editor of Salon News and Beauty News Editor of Women’s Wear. A native of Louisville, KY, Jenny received a BA in art history and an MA in journalism from New York University.

Julie Larson, LCSW

Julie Larson is a licensed clinical social worker who has spent her career working in oncology supportive care. She has a vibrant private practice working primarily with individuals under the age of 40 years facing an unexpected medical diagnosis. Julie is a frequent speaker - educator to both survivor and professional audiences on the impact of a serious illness at a young age and the innate capacity to live fully after a cancer diagnosis.

Working alongside her clients and audiences, Julie helps people learn to identify inherent strengths and cultivate additional resilient behaviors to build confidence in the ability to navigate hardship. Her clinical work has led her to be a trusted advisor to many advocate organizations on strategies to improve and grow their young adult programming and she has been featured contributor for many online and print publications.

Rebecca V. Nellis, MPP

Rebecca V. Nellis is the Executive Director of Cancer and Careers. Since 2004 she has helped evolve the organization from early concept to national prominence. Rebecca oversees CAC’s programming and fundraising strategies to ensure long-term growth and sustainability. Under her leadership, the organization’s services transform the everyday lives of survivors, while promoting lasting, systemic change for tomorrow’s workplace.

As an expert on cancer-workplace issues, she travels the country presenting at national conferences, leading hospitals and community events about the intersection of life, work and cancer. She has been an invited speaker for the American Public Health Association, the Association of Oncology Social Workers, the National Business Group on Health and 2018’s South by Southwest Conference, among others.

Over the years, Rebecca has launched many of CAC’s breakthrough initiatives, such as the National and Regional Conferences on Work & Cancer, accredited trainings for healthcare professionals and library of Spanish-language resources. As an active member of the cancer community, she has served on numerous committees and working groups, including for Workplace Transitions for People Touched by Cancer and “Women at Work: Multi-Ethnic Comparison of Cancer Survivors with Low-Status Jobs,” at the University of South Florida.

Rebecca holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from New York University and a Master of Public Policy degree from Georgetown University. Her graduate thesis was entitled “Implications of Cancer Survivorship on Financial Assets, Work Productivity and Employment Circumstances.”

Ruth Oratz, MD, FACP

Ruth Oratz is Professor of Clinical Medicine at NYU School of Medicine/NYU Langone Health, where she practices and teaches. She is a medical oncologist specializing in the care of people with and at risk for breast cancer. She is especially committed to helping the individual with cancer continue to live life actively and fully, placing significant attention on flexible treatment programs and those that address concerns about career, family life, relationships and sexuality. Her teaching focuses on the art of medicine, bringing humanities to the sciences. Dr. Oratz is also on the Advisory Board of The Bellevue Literary Review, a journal committed to cultivating the humanistic side of medical practice.

Dr. Oratz is an advisor to several national advocacy organizations, including breastcancer.org, Living Beyond Breast Cancer, CancerCare, Young Survival Coalition, Moving For Life and Sharsheret. She served as Chair of the Medical Advisory Board of Susan G. Komen, Greater NYC, and on the National Board of the YWCA, USA. She was named “Physician of the Year” by CancerCare and has been recognized in “The Best Doctors in America” and “The Best Doctors in NYC.” Dr. Oratz is active both locally and nationally as a speaker and healthcare educator, appearing on television and radio and lecturing to the public.

Kim Seymour

With over 20 years managing human resources from revenue-generating commercial businesses to vast global servicing organizations, Kim has a demonstrated ability to architect transformation, forge connections, deliver insights and link talent to strategy. Kim is a trusted advisor and thought partner and has successfully built world-class business teams across different industries, functions, geographies and environments. She is a leader with people operations expertise and ensures that the employee side of the business equation enables execution of strategic objectives.

Kim wholeheartedly believes that talent, leadership and culture are the keys to successful businesses. Therefore she focuses on the quality of the talent in the business, the culture being created, the effectiveness of programs and policies, workforce dynamics, change strategy and inclusive leadership, among other key levers. A lifelong curiosity about what makes people join, perform, contribute, stay and elevate has made her a valued partner to senior leaders who understand that strong talent and the right culture are the ultimate competitive advantages.

Kim’s expertise is rooted in strong business acumen and forward-thinking HR strategies in the areas of talent assessment, succession planning, organizational design, performance management, labor relations, benefits, acquisitions, divestitures and coaching. Kim is often asked to speak to a variety of audiences globally on all of these topics as well as her personal leadership philosophies.

Kim joined Etsy to drive global strategy in all areas that impact the company’s talent. She oversees all aspects of the company’s human capital plan, with a strong emphasis on talent, leadership, diversity and organizational effectiveness.

Prior to joining Etsy, Kim served as Chief People Officer at WW where she developed and delivered impactful human capital strategies. Prior to WW, Kim held successively progressive roles at American Express, Home Depot and General Electric.

Kim currently serves on the Board of Directors of RHR International and the Board of Trustees for Fisk University, a Historically Black College/University. She has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, Entrepreneur.com, Forbes.com, and Bloomberg and speaks on Leadership and Culture globally.