Kerstin Kimel is the only head coach in Duke women’s lacrosse history, leading the program since its inception in 1996 and molding the Blue Devils into one of the nation’s elite teams.

In Kimel’s 30 seasons at the helm of Duke women’s lacrosse, she has guided the Blue Devils to seven national semifinals, four ACC regular season titles, an ACC Tournament Championship and 23 NCAA Tournament appearances.

A five-time ACC Coach of the Year, Kimel has overseen 45 All-America selections, making up for 118 honors, 103 all-region honorees and 95 All-ACC picks. Seven of her former players have represented their countries on the world's stage, competing at the 2009, 2013 and 2017 World Cups. The Blue Devils have achieved equal success in the classroom during Kimel’s tenure, collecting 130 Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association Academic Honor Roll accolades since 1997.

Dr. Maayan Salton is an Associate Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. At the Salton Lab at The Hebrew University they use molecular biology techniques and high-throughput sequencing to reveal the layers of pre-mRNA splicing regulation in health and disease. Specifically, they study how chromatin interacts with the spliceosome to alter alternative splicing patterns.

Dr. Hani Goodarzi received a research grant award from earlier.org in 2017 for “Leveraging cancer-specific small RNAs for early detection of high-risk breast cancer".

Dr. Goodarzi is an Associate Professor in the Department of Biophysics & Biochemistry at the University of California San Francisco. He received his Ph.D. in quantitative and computational biology at Princeton University.

He has received the Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise, the AACR-MPM Transformative Cancer Research Award, the Martin and Rose Wachtel Award in Cancer Research and he is recognized as an American Cancer Society scholar.

Dr. Goodarzi has led his own research group (https://goodarzilab.ucsf.edu/) at UCSF since 2016, working at the intersection of machine learning and cancer biology. His team brings together a mix of students and researchers across a range of backgrounds and experiences to tackle fundamental challenges facing life sciences. In a number of studies, his lab has used computational tools to show how RNA-encoded information is over-written by cancer cells to drive pathological progression of this disease. These discoveries have uncovered new ways through which we can target human cancers.

With an 11-month-old, a 2 ½ year-old, and less than 24 hours after learning that she was pregnant with her third child, Holly answered the phone and jotted a note from the doctor: “You have Cancer.” 

A week earlier, Holly found her own lump while scraping an errant, sticky crumb from her chest…undoubtedly part of a toddler snack from earlier that day. A different shirt, a different snack, or a different decision to shower, and the cancer may not have been found until much later. At age 38, Holly was not eligible for a mammogram through her insurance for another two years.

Holly believes that her purpose is kindness. She set out to infuse kindness within the peer groups of her children by serving as softball/soccer/basketball coach, Girl Scout Leader, class parent, PTO member, and more. Her family motto and email signature is: “Kindness Always.” She is open about her cancer and feels that sharing the experience is part of her journey. Currently, she is working on a project to help support others through the ripple effect of kindness...LikeAPebble(.org) in a pond.  

Dr. Jennifer Plichta is an Associate Professor of Surgery & Population Health Sciences at Duke University. She serves as the Director of the Breast Risk Assessment Clinic in the Duke Cancer Institute, where she cares for patients with breast cancer, benign breast problems, and those with an increased risk of breast cancer. Her clinical interests include establishing routine breast cancer risk assessment for women and creating personalized management strategies for those found to be “high risk”.

 Dr. Plichta’s research focuses of identifying and managing women with risk factors for breast cancer, including those with genetic mutations, such as BRCA, those with abnormal breast biopsies, and those with a family history of breast cancer. She is also studying metastatic breast cancer and how breast cancer staging can be used to improve patient care and education. 

Dr. Jennifer Plichta is an Associate Professor of Surgery & Population Health Sciences at Duke University. She serves as the Director of the Breast Risk Assessment Clinic in the Duke Cancer Institute, where she cares for patients with breast cancer, benign breast problems, and those with an increased risk of breast cancer. Her clinical interests include establishing routine breast cancer risk assessment for women and creating personalized management strategies for those found to be “high risk”.

 Dr. Plichta’s research focuses of identifying and managing women with risk factors for breast cancer, including those with genetic mutations, such as BRCA, those with abnormal breast biopsies, and those with a family history of breast cancer. She is also studying metastatic breast cancer and how breast cancer staging can be used to improve patient care and education. 

Diagnosed with breast cancer just one week before Christmas 2010, Tiffany Vestal shares her story of survivorship and what - quite ironically - became the "best year of her life." Join us as Tiffany talks about being open to receiving the gifts along the way, including putting things in perspective, allowing others to love and care for your, and harnessing control.

Dr. Debbie Anaby is the Head of the Breast Cancer Imaging Laboratory at Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer, Israel. She is a dedicated scientist with expertise in breast imaging, specializing in medical image processing and AI-based tools for early detection of breast cancer and personalized risk stratification, particularly within high-risk populations. By leveraging innovative technologies, her goal is to contribute to the forefront of breast cancer diagnosis.

She received her BSc in Biochemical Engineering from the Technion and her MSc and PhD in advanced MRI techniques from Tel Aviv University. After her postdoctoral training at Cardiff University in Wales, she began her independent research in the Division of Diagnostic Imaging at the Sheba Medical Center, where she established the Breast Cancer Imaging Lab (BreaciL) and serves as its principal investigator.

At age 40 - and just four months after a clean mammogram - Kelly Adair discovered a lump that led to a diagnosis of stage III triple-negative breast cancer. To say she was ‘shocked’ would be an understatement, especially no family history and two young children.

Today, she is a fierce advocate for early detection research and understanding your family history to turn fear into action. 

Dr. Stanton is a physician scientist with expertise in breast cancer and extensive training in molecular genetics and immunotherapy. Currently, she leads the Cancer Immunoprevention Laboratory at the Earle A. Chiles Research Institute, a Providence Center of Excellence for immuno-oncology and cellular therapy. She is also a practicing physician at Providence (Portland, Oregon) and is board-certified in medical oncology and internal medicine.

Dr. Stanton became interested in breast cancer after witnessing its devastation among friends and family. When she started taking care of patients with cancer, she saw unmet needs that more targeted therapies given earlier in the disease could address. She decided to focus on translational breast cancer research in the emerging field of immuno-oncology.
Dr. Stanton is currently facing her own battle with lobular breast cancer. Her perspective is uniquely multifaceted — as a researcher dedicated to translational breast cancer research, a medical oncologist who treats patients with breast cancer, and now, as someone personally experiencing what her patients go through.