Guests- Liszet Ariana Bigelow & Michael Lillie

Liszet is the Community Health Educator for Urban Populations for the Fred Hutch/University of Washington Cancer Consortium’s Office of Community Outreach & Engagement (OCOE). Originally from Arizona where she got her Bachelor of Science degree in Family Studies and Human Development from the University of Arizona, her personal experience led her to pursue a career assisting underserved populations and access to health care. She began her work at West Side Head Start serving the El Mirage, AZ community which is the same community she participated in as a child. In 2013, she moved to Seattle to obtain her Master’s in Social Work with a concentration in Health Policy and Advocacy. Liszet began her career at Fred Hutch in 2015 working as a bilingual Information Specialist at the nation’s only NCI Cancer Information Service, where she provided callers from all over the world up-to-date cancer information, clinical trial search, and local resources. Liszet continues her work in health disparities now in cancer prevention and survivorship as part of the Cancer Consortium’s OCOE. She’s had the honor of working with African American communities in clinical trial information sessions, working with the Mexican Consulate to provide Spanish Cancer information, and most recently recruiting for a monoclonal Anti-body study for COVID-19. Liszet hopes to expand her work in connecting with any underserved communities and working towards decreasing gaps in health care and cancer information resources. Michael has spent 25 years in the medical industry bringing disruptive technology to the patients and systems that treat them. He’s worked both with national and international companies to bring the latest technology to the patient front line. Additionally, Michael has worked with large health systems; University of Washington, Kaiser, Stanford, and Providence from the commercial vendor side. Focused on breakthrough diagnostic test for breast and colorectal cancer, helping identifying patients in the care gap. Currently, Michael is with Deciphera Pharmaceuticals, a rare disease cancer company focusing on (GIST gastrointestinal stromal tumors). C-Sessions is a fascinating healthcare-focused program designed to improve communication and collaboration between patients and their healthcare provider. “The ultimate takeaway is to improve outcomes,” said Randy, adding, “We believe that education, transparency, and open dialogue are essential to providing quality healthcare throughout the patient journey and treatment process.”