Board of Directors
Meet the Lobular Breast Cancer Alliance Inc. Board of Directors
The Lobular Breast Cancer Alliance (LBCA) Board of Directors is committted to helping the organization achieve its mission and vision. Their primary duties are: to take care of LBCA by ensuring prudent use of its assets; to ensure, with loyalty to our charity, that LBCA’s activities and transactions and board member decisions are in service to its mission; and to ensure that LBCA adheres to all applicable laws and regulations, as well as its own policies and bylaws. Some board members are individuals who have been directly impacted by invasive lobular carcinoma (ILC), also lnown as lobular breast cancer. All are deeply caring and dedicated to promoting and helping LBCA fund ILC research, to advance the understanding of ILC, and to identify treatments that are most effective. The board vigorously supports LBCA in striving to change the future for everyone diagnosed with lobular breast cancer.
Laurie Hutcheson, MS, ILC Patient Advocate & Executive Director of LBCA, has been a leader in health care program development, management and strategic direction in organizations in Massachusetts and nationwide for over 40 years. Laurie received her MS in health policy and management in 1989 from Harvard University, T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Her experience includes executive roles including deputy assistant secretary of health and human services in the Massachusetts executive office of health and human services, and vice president of Riverside Community Care, a large community-based behavioral health organization. She has also consulted in the design, implementation, and evaluation of health care programs around the country, with her own consulting practice and as a Fellow with the National Academy for State Health Policy. More …
Brenda Cunnington is a Managing Director at Trayport Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of TMX Group, best known for its exchange subsidiaries, Toronto Stock Exchange, and TSX Venture Exchange. Brenda is responsible for the business, sales, and strategy to support trading in Energy and Commodity markets in North America. She is also a founding member of The Voluntary Climate Marketplace, an initiative Trayport has recently launched in partnership with Chicago based firm, IncubEX. More…
Kathryn Krantz, MD, received her BA from Oberlin College and her medical degree from the University of Connecticut. After completing an OB/GYN residency in 1983 at the hospital of the Medical College of Pennsylvania, she earned her specialty board certification and was a practicing women’s health clinician for close to 20 years. The remainder of her career has been primarily devoted to pharmaceutical drug safety, and she retired from her final industry position, as an executive director in Clinical Safety and Risk Management at Merck, in September 2022. Kathy was diagnosed with ILC in October 2019, when she first learned how this stealthy cancer subtype often defies early detection and that better methods of early diagnosis, surveillance, and treatment are desperately needed. She is committed to exploring how her combined experiences and perspectives as a clinician, pharmaceutical physician and ILC patient may best help LBCA to achieve its research and advocacy goals.
Bob McDevitt is a retired marketing executive primarily in the restaurant industry. Spanning 40 years Bob started his career as an advertising agency Account Executive on the McDonalds account focused on the development of marketing strategies in the
New York and Philadelphia markets. Bob’s career included 10 years at Pizza Hut where his responsibilities included national brand advertising, sales promotion and public relations as Vice President of Marketing. Bob became Chief Marketing Officer at
Golden Corral Corporation in 1994 responsible for new product development, food and beverage, advertising and purchasing. Bob retired as Chief Operations Officer of Golden Corral Franchising in 2019. During his career, Bob served on several Industry and non-profit boards. Bob was on the board of the International Franchise Association, dedicated to advancing and defending the franchise business model worldwide. He served on the board of InterAct, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the aid and support of victims of domestic violence. He also served as a board member at The Montessori School of Raleigh, a
private school using the Montessori teaching method, where he participated in the development and opening of a unique Montessori middle school. Bob lives in Raleigh, NC. with his wife, Judy, who in 2019 was diagnosed with ILC.
Judy McDevitt has resided in Raleigh, NC, since 1994. She lives with her retired husband Bob and has four children: Matt, Nick, Caitlin, and Colleen and three grandchildren. As part of raising her family, healthy living became integral to her philosophy including exercise and instilling a work ethic in her children through horse ownership and riding. In 2000 she became part of a clinical study after the need for a hip replacement was recommended by local surgeons. After researching alternatives, she reached out to Dr. Harlan Amstutz at Orthopedic Hospital in Los Angeles. She was invited to join his study on hip resurfacing. This successful procedure demonstrated to her the importance of self-advocacy the result of which allowed her to continue horseback riding and all other types of physical activity. She worked as the Community Outreach Coordinator at Raleigh Charter High School where her daughters attended. In 2019 she was diagnosed with stage 2a ILC. A double mastectomy found a mass of 7.2cm rather than the 2cm mass they expected. She found LBCA and her education started. In her free time, she loves to visit her children and grandchildren, loves to travel internationally, and go to the gym.
Robert Oakes, Jr., CPA, MBA, LBCA Treasurer, Senior Principal at Slalom Consulting, focuses on life science clients as they prepare for commercialization of their therapies. Oakes is an experienced business executive and consultant with over 30 years of diverse working experience in consulting, management, accounting, and finance. Prior to working at Slalom, Rob was a director at Integrated Global Performance Solutions and at KPMG Advisory. Before starting his consulting career, Rob served in senior financial management roles in private industry. He started his career in the audit firm of T.M. Byxbee in Albany, NY, before attending graduate school at Bentley College. His combined experience in both consulting and industry brings a unique skill set to his work allowing him to not only understand the latest technology or management theory, but also to understand what does and does not work in practice. His strengths lie in the ability to find creative solutions to complex problems and implement them. His experiences include strategic planning, systems implementation, process improvement, finance transformation, and running enterprise programs. Rob received his BS in Accounting from SUNY Plattsburgh.
In Memoriam
Deb Mueller, MD, Professor of Surgery at the University of Texas Health at San Antonio, practiced and taught trauma, surgical critical care, and emergency surgery. She was a veteran and retired colonel in the US Air Force having served 24 years. During her military service she participated in breast cancer surgical care. Her current academic pursuits were developing leadership training and wellness initiatives for surgical trainees and advocating for women in surgery in regards to specific issues they face. She was diagnosed with stage 2A ILC in January 2022. She was married with two daughters. LBCA is saddened to share the news that Deb passed away on February 10, 2023. Read our tribute.Â
