Jill Feldman

Jill Feldman is a lung cancer patient and activist. When Jill was 13 years old, she lost her father and two grandparents to lung cancer within a period of eight months. Fourteen years later, her mom and close aunt succumbed to the disease within a two-year period. Jill was a volunteer, an advocate and past president of LUNGevity Foundation before the unthinkable happened. In 2009, at 39 years old with four small children, Jill herself was diagnosed with lung cancer.

Jill has non-small cell lung cancer EGFR+ del exon 19. Despite two surgeries, targeted therapy and stereotactic radiation therapy, lung cancer will be a lifelong roller coaster ride for Jill, but she is grateful that it can be managed as chronic disease, for now.

Jill continues to be involved with LUNGevity and remains on their patient advisory board. She is also a member of IASLC’s patient advisory board and The Chicago Institute of Translational Medicine’s patient advisory board. Jill is committed to understanding and promoting patient-centered research as a consumer reviewer for the Department of Defense Lung Cancer Research Program, as a planning committee member on IASLC’s Chicago’s Multidisciplinary Thoracic Oncology Symposium and by organizing independent lab tours in the Chicago area for patients and advocates. Jill has presented patient perspectives internationally at the World Conference on Lung Cancer hosted by IASLC and she recently co-authored the ASTRO Guidelines for SBRT in early stage lung cancer that was published in an ASCO special article in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

Jill is honored to be a co-founder of the EGFR Resisters, a grassroots, patient-driven community committed to accelerating research that will prolong and better the lives of people diagnosed with EGFR+ lung cancer. Jill also continues to share her story in the media and at various events and participates in countless advocacy opportunities to shine a light on lung cancer and end the stigma associated with it.

Jill holds a bachelor of science in Business Communications from the University of Kansas, and a Master's degree in Elementary Education from DePaul University. She works part time from home and spends her summers working at Culver Summer Schools and Camps in Culver, Indiana, where her children attend camp. She lives in Deerfield, IL with her husband, four children and two dogs.

Click here to read all of Jill's articles on LungCancer.net.