The Cancer Couch Foundation Team

Board Members

Liz Scott is the Co-Executive Director of Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation for Childhood Cancer, but she is most proud of her title of “Mom” to her three sons, (Patrick, Eddie, and Joey) and her daughter Alex.   Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation (ALSF) emerged from the front yard lemonade stand of Liz’s daughter, Alexandra “Alex” Scott (1996-2004) who was diagnosed with neuroblastoma, a childhood cancer, when she was just an infant.  In 2000, 4-year-old Alex announced that she wanted to hold a lemonade stand to raise money to help find a cure for other children with cancer. In her lifetime, Alex would go on to raise over $1 million before she passed away in 2004 at the age of 8.  Since that time, Liz and her husband Jay have worked alongside thousands of supporters across the country to carry on her legacy of hope. To date, Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation has raised more than $120 million toward fulfilling Alex’s dream of finding a cure, funding over 550 pediatric cancer research projects across North America.  In addition to serving as the Co- Executive Director of ALSF, Liz also serves on the National Cancer Institute Pediatric Solid Tumor Steering Committee as well as the Editorial Advisory Board of Cancer Today.

Caryn Sullivan has been working in media for nearly two decades, ranging from promoting arena shows and sports teams to negotiating business development deals with Disney and ESPN Media Networks. After being diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer, she took her career from behind the scenes and created the award-winning blog PrettyWellness.com. Here she chronicles research, tips and stories on her overall journey embracing wellness. Caryn loves sharing the message about taking small steps toward optimal health to not only thrive but to also look and feel fabulous. She’s a regular contributor to The Huffington Post and has been interviewed on The Doctor Oz Show, HuffPostLive and local news outlets advocating for a healthy lifestyle. Her favorite job, though, is finding new green smoothies and fun fitness activities for her family.

Margaret Flynn-Khan is a founding partner of Mainspring Consulting, a national consulting firm that works with foundations, policymakers, and state and community leaders to design effective investments for families and communities. She has provided training and technical assistance to hundreds of public and private leaders around the country focused on financing and sustaining effective initiatives. She is a former Practice Group Leader for Vulnerable Children and Youth at The Finance Project, a national policy research and technical assistance organization. Margaret has conducted research and produced publications exploring funding sources and financing strategies to support education and child welfare initiatives. Margaret co-authored Adding it Up: A Guide to Mapping Public Resources for Children, Youth, and Families, which helps government and nonprofit leaders to make sense of the complicated landscape of public and private funding sources supporting services for children and families. Her recent research projects have emphasized evaluating systemic impacts, including examining the extent to which foundation investments effectively leverage resources and influence public policy and public agency practice. Margaret holds a Masters degree in Social Work from the University of Connecticut

Thomas M. Scalera is Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of ITT Corporation, a leading global manufacturer of highly engineered critical components and customized solutions for the transportation, energy and industrial markets. In this position, he is responsible for all aspects of the Company’s financial performance and he also manages the Company’s Strategy, Information Technology and Management System functions. Mr. Scalera became CFO in 2011, as ITT was successfully completing the spin-offs of its defense and water businesses. Since then, he has provided strategic leadership for the company that has resulted in a track record of profitable investment and growth. Since joining ITT Corporation in 2006, he has held several other senior-level positions. Prior to being named CFO, he was Vice President of Corporate Finance and Director of Investor Relations. Previously, he was Director of Financial Planning and Analysis, where he led a world-class function within the then $12 billion corporation that significantly influenced the efficient deployment of strategic organic and inorganic investments.

Medical Advisor

Dr. David B. Pearlstone received his B.Sc. from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee and MD from New York University School of Medicine in 1989.  He completed his residency in general surgery at NYU in 1996 under Dr. Frank Spencer.  During that time, he spent two years as Clinical Research Fellow in the Surgical Metabolism Laboratory at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center under Dr. Murray Brennan, where he published extensively in the field of cancer cachexia.  He then went on to complete a clinical fellowship in surgical oncology at the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas.  In 2010, while on the faculty at Yale University School of Medicine, Dr. Pearlstone received his MBA from the Leadership in Healthcare program at Yale’s School of Management.  He subsequently served as Chief of the Division of Breast Surgery and Director of Breast Services at the John Theurer Cancer Center at Hackensack University Medical Center, in Hackensack New, Jersey and then Associate Chairman of Surgery and Chief of Surgical Oncology at Lincoln Hospital in New York City.  In September 2016 Dr. Pearlstone became Medical Director for Vitas Healthcare in Connecticut.  His wife Dr. Melissa Pearlstone is a gynecologist practicing in Waterbury, CT.

Outreach Team

Vivian Ciampi

Fundraising

Paula Cunningham

Fundraising

Susan Rahn

Rochester, NY Liaison

Stacey Crays

Communication