Team

A graduate of the University of North Florida’s Brooks College of Health in Jacksonville, Florida, Julia completed an internship at Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville focused on patient experience and service recovery. While completing her degree in Health Administration, Julia also studied abroad in Beijing, China. Julia was compelled to begin her career in healthcare after her father’s open-heart surgery and subsequent lengthy hospitalization. Watching the nurses care for her father with such grace and compassion inspired her to choose a career path focused on helping others along similar journeys.

Beth’s extensive oncology experience started in 2007 where she worked as a registered nurse in adult oncology and palliative care. In 2017, she transitioned to the pediatric neuro-oncology population as a nurse navigator with Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis, Indiana. Beth completed ELNEC (End-of-Life Nursing Education Consortium) training to become comfortable with challenging, end-of-life conversations. Beth strives to build relationships with families and anticipate the needs of the patients she is supporting. She remains involved with a local non-profit providing camp nursing support to children affected by cancer.

A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, Alexandra spent nearly a decade as a medical social worker at The Mayo Clinic in Florida, primarily dedicated to the oncology and transplant departments. She was inspired to pursue a career in social work after becoming the primary caregiver for her mother, who received a double lung transplant. Alexandra is passionate about helping patients and families navigate difficult situations and empowering them along their journey.

Megan recently graduated from the University of North Florida with a bachelor’s degree in Health Administration. Prior to joining BTN, she provided administrative support in a busy medical practice focused on integrative medicine. Fostering a lifelong passion for advancing quality healthcare, Megan is currently pursuing her master’s degree in Health Administration at the Brooks College of Health at the University of North Florida.

Prior to joining BTN, Meghan worked in Health Care Administration, coordinating programs for brain tumor and other cancer patients and their families, eventually developing a love for patient care and earning her nursing degree. She spent nearly a decade with Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts in various oncology roles, many of which worked directly with brain tumor patients. Meghan’s affinity for nursing stems from her desire to make a difference in the lives of patients and their families.

Karey’s experience includes over 20 years as a nurse with Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida, co-developing the health system’s Epilepsy Clinic and pioneering the first Clinical Epilepsy Nurse role. Prior to joining BTN, Karey served as Mayo Clinic’s Clinical Nursing Supervisor specializing in epilepsy and onco-epilepsy patients with brain tumors and as an Epilepsy Research Nurse, where she coordinated several multi-phased drug and device studies. After working alongside her father in his independent pharmacy during high school and college, Karey developed a passion for disease processes and the way medication works in the body to treat illness, eventually leading her to become BTN’s resident clinical trial and research specialist.

A graduate from the University of North Florida, Jenny Lyn has spent the past seven years providing direct patient care to various patient populations, including oncology, hematology, and bone marrow transplant. At Mayo Clinic Florida, she collaborated with research coordinators and was the infusion nurse for several clinical trials. Coming from a family of nurses, Jenny Lyn developed her love for nursing, especially oncology patients, after caring for her father, who passed away from lung cancer. She is passionate about educating and empowering patients and is honored to serve the brain tumor community.

Molly’s extensive neuro-oncology nursing career began at Johns Hopkins as a Pediatric Oncology Nurse. She ultimately earned her master’s degree in Nursing and began working with some of Johns Hopkins’ most prestigious researchers as a Senior Research Nurse for Phase I trials for solid tumors. After over a decade with Johns Hopkins, Molly stepped into a clinical case management role supporting cancer patients with targeted navigation for a private company, which ultimately led her to pursue a neuro-oncology nurse navigation role with Brain Tumor Network.  Hailing from a family of nurses, Molly is passionate about increasing access to quality healthcare and strives to build meaningful relationships with her patients.

Prior to joining BTN, Kelly was an Oncology Nurse at a community cancer center in Jacksonville, Florida, where she helped to coordinate and provide outpatient clinical care and navigation for cancer patients undergoing treatment. Additionally, Kelly has experience as an Emergency Department Nurse in multiple New Jersey emergency departments, which led to a unique patient experience shaped by critical thinking and efficient clinical skills. Kelly is a cancer survivor. This provided the catalyst for her to pursue her degree in nursing and feeds her passion for advocating and empowering for cancer patients at Brain Tumor Network.

Olivia graduated from the University of North Florida with a bachelor’s degree in communications, with a focus on advertising and a minor in business management. Working for a digital marketing firm as an Account Coordinator, she gained experience in project management, social media marketing, and website analytics. Olivia’s desire to help others and work in the nonprofit sector stems from her grandmother’s battle with bladder cancer and Parkinson’s disease.

Sarah began her social work career after graduating with her MSW from Florida State University in 2014. She has worked in different areas within medical social work, specifically at Mayo Clinic in solid organ transplant and later at Nemours Children’s Health in the pediatric Hem/Onc division. Sarah is passionate about advocating for and supporting patients and their families throughout the continuum of a life altering diagnosis.

Prior to her role as Director of Operations, Laura was Director of Navigation Operations and a Nurse Navigator at BTN. Laura brings with her over 20 years’ experience, including over 10 years at New York Presbyterian Hospital in New York City, first as a Neuro-Surgical Operating Room Nurse, and later becoming the Perioperative Nurse Instructor. In this role, she provided targeted training and education to nurses assigned to the surgical department to ensure excellence in patient care. Laura’s son was diagnosed with a rare kidney disease at age 5, and patient navigation was not available for her family following his diagnosis. This experience inspired Laura to become a nurse navigator, ensuring that other families had access to the very services her family needed years prior.

Before joining the BTN team, Cassie served as Mayo Clinic Jacksonville’s first brain tumor nurse navigator, eventually playing a key role in the development of a specialized high-grade brain tumor navigator position to provide targeted services to patients with advanced brain tumors. Prior to Mayo Clinic, Cassie worked with several non-profit organizations across the United States, including a community service agency in Hamtramck, Michigan that provided food and clothing for the city’s extensive homeless population. Cassie was inspired to become a nurse after witnessing the care and compassion her grandmother received from her nurses during her battle with dementia.

A graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Anna spent 11 years as a nurse within the Duke University Health System, serving in various oncology-focused roles. Most recently, Anna dedicated five years to the Preston Robert Tisch Brain Tumor Center at Duke Cancer Center as a Service Access Nurse, where she ensured that new patients had efficient and comprehensive access to the breadth of services the center provides. Anna hails from a family of healthcare professionals, with a passion for health equity and service to others instilled in her at a very young age.

Kendra’s nursing career spans nearly a decade, having spent over four years as a Chemotherapy Infusion Nurse at Cancer Specialists of North Florida in Jacksonville, as well as two years as an Oncology Nurse at Baptist Health System in Northeast Florida. Prior to becoming a nurse, Kendra specialized in digital marketing and web design for global recruitment giant Monster.com and managed membership services for a national technology research and advisory company. Kendra was the caregiver for her brother after his terminal cancer diagnosis. This experience drove her to change careers from digital marketing to nursing.

Prior to joining BTN, Brittany provided palliative care as a Nurse Practitioner in Jacksonville, Florida. Brittany also spent six years as an Intensive Care Unit Nurse at Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, gaining extensive experience caring for patients with a wide variety of conditions and cancer diagnoses. When Brittany was a child, a family member passed away from cancer, and she was inspired by the stories her family told of the compassionate caregiving team. This evolved into a passion for supporting oncology patients and their caregivers.

Hayley obtained her degree in Political Science from Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, Florida. While completing her education and post-graduation, Hayley completed an internship with the City of Jacksonville in Florida, where she supported the city’s nonprofit grant recipients, as well as with Jacksonville Legal Aid, where she assisted with legal research and case preparation. Hayley was driven to help others after the death of her brother at age six. Her mother is also a breast cancer survivor.