Marlene McCarthy, H.L.D.

Marlene McCarthy is a volunteer. She is a breast cancer advocate; a woman with breast cancer, a wife, a mother of four children and a grandmother.

Marlene is the co-founder and Chair of the Rhode Island Breast Cancer Coalition (RIBCC) and Chair of the Rhode Island Department of Health's Public Education Committee for the Rhode Island Women's Cancer Screening Program (WCSP).

Nationally, she serves on the Board of Directors and Executive Committee of the National Breast Cancer Coalition, an advocacy organization representing over 600 individual members and 60,000 organizations. The National Cancer Cooperative Group has appointed her as the Consumer Representative on breast cancer to the National Patient Advisory Board. In addition, she has served as a consumer representative to the National Cancer Institute Breast Cancer Progress Review Group, and as a grant reviewer for the Department of Defense Peer Review Breast Cancer Research Program. She has also served on the Screening Technologies Committee for the National Office of Women's Health.

The national magazine MAMM identified her as one of "50 Making A Difference in Breast Cancer" in their October 1998 publication. She was featured in RHODE ISLAND MONTHLY magazine's March 2000 issue as a "powerhouse" for breast cancer. ABC-TV6 honored her with the Freedom Torch Award for her volunteer efforts on behalf of local women with breast cancer.

Marlene has testified before the U.S. Congress on behalf of women from all over the country to the need for critical legislation. Each year she brings a group of Rhode Island women to Washington, DC to train as breast cancer advocates.

Marlene has made a number of scholarly contributions authoring and co-authoring published articles on breast cancer and she is a contributing author to the medical text The Breast: Comprehensive Management of Benign and Malignant Diseases. Her chapter is titled "Patient and Family Resources."

Internationally, she has served on the organizing committee for two of the International Breast Cancer Conferences in Brussels, Belgium and has been invited to address several European cancer meetings.