April 03, 2021

What You See You Can't Unsee

57 minutes

Black women who are diagnosed with breast cancer are 71% more likely to die. This week.s guest, Jamil Rivers, has made it her life's work to explore this disparity and find solutions. Jamil talks with Cal about her organization, The Chrysalis Initiative, their programs, and what is really driving those outcome disparities. Jamil also talks about what happens when you address the biases that drive disparities. **********Find out more and support The Chrysalis Initiative: https://thechrysalisinitiative.org**********Support your favorite podcast on Patreon: patreon.com/interdisciplinary**********About Our Guest:Jamil Rivers was diagnosed with de novo metastatic breast cancer at age 39. Determined to do everything to be here for her children, husband, and family, she researched vigorously how to best prepare for breast cancer and treatment. Jamil started treatment with chemotherapy and supported herhealth by improving her nutrition with food and supplements and integrative therapies. She is now doing well and on hormonal therapy.Jamil continues to work full-time and live an active life. She believes the research she did to prepare herself for her cancer has been critical in her recovery and overall wellness. She became an advocate to use her voice andexperiences to help advance legislative policy, medical research, and to promote care that better meets the needs of individuals impacted by breast cancer, particularly Black and metastatic patients.Jamil is the board president of METAvivor, and on the Board of Directors of Healwell and Living Beyond Breast Cancer. She is a policy and science advocate and metastatic and African-American health equity advisory committee member with Susan G. Komen. She is a member and patient advisor of the Metastatic Breast Cancer Alliance. She is a proposal reviewerfor the Breast Cancer Research Program with the Department of Defense and a Project LEAD graduate. She is a Steering Committee member of the Clinical Trials Transformation Initiative.Jamil also launched The Chrysalis Initiative which provides one-on-coaching and patient navigation support to women with breast cancer, engages in outreach and education for Black women to assess their breast cancer risk and provides training and solutions for providers to ensure equitable care.Through Jamil’s work, she has participated in countless community health events, facilitated the design and funding of two metastatic clinical trials, met with leadership within the Pennsylvania governor’s office and congressional leaders in Washington, D.C., testified to the Food a

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