65: Katherine Leon: Fighting For Better Education and Awareness on Women's Cardiovascular Health

Katherine Leon is a leading patient advocate and is co-founder with Rachel Doucette of the SCAD Alliance, a health nonprofit focused on improved care and outcomes of Spontaneous Coronary Artery Dissection, an underdiagnosed form of heart attack and sudden death. Katherine experienced SCAD in 2003 following the birth of her second son. After several weeks of misdiagnoses, she survived a heart attack and emergency double bypass surgery. The ordeal was a new beginning for her as an advocate for women with heart disease and her fellow SCAD survivors. In addition to initiating SCAD clinical studies at Mayo Clinic, she advocates for patient empowerment and supports survivors and their families through @SCADalliance.

Katherine spent her early career in corporate communication and today is a freelance writer/editor. In addition to her advocacy through SCAD Alliance, she is a 2009 graduate of the Women Heart Science & Leadership Symposium at Mayo Clinic, and volunteers to educate the public in person and online about the number one killer of Americans: heart disease.