Our Board of Directors

Sara Frost Azzam has been touched by cancer through both of her parents: Her mother is a breast cancer survivor and her father died of multiple myeloma. She is the mother of two children and joined the WCPP because of her desire to see cancer prevented in their lifetime. She has written many articles for the Wellesley Townsman on the subject of chemicals: in pesticides, dry-cleaning, personal care products, and water. It is her conviction that educating the public about the steps that individual people can take will bring about change in what we put into and onto our bodies, thus preventing cancer in future generations. Sara has a Master’s degree in English Education, and she is a middle school teacher. Her husband is in the solar energy business, another area which involves finding a better lifestyle for future generations. Sara was recently honored for her cancer philanthropy and education activities by the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) Cancer Center, which named her to ‘the one hundred,’ a select group of 100 individuals and groups whose ‘diligence and discoveries, philanthropy and passion have helped advance the fight against cancer.

Kathy McGraw Bentley

Linda Griffith and her husband Graham chose to raise their two children in Wellesley 31 years ago, and highly value efforts to sustain Wellesley’s environment. Working as a Director in Marketing Programs, Communication and Business Development for various technology companies globally, Linda focused on healthcare applications, education and targeted initiatives or events to increase public awareness. For the last 10 years, as a volunteer, Linda has worked as an elected Officer and a member of the Long Range Planning Committee for the Quonochontaug Central Beach Fire District in Rhode Island to develop and execute policies and practices that will help sustain the natural resources in this beach community. As a recent breast cancer survivor, and the daughter of an ovarian cancer survivor, Linda brings to the Wellesley Cancer Prevention Project a desire to increase the awareness, participation and knowledge of Wellesley residents regarding actions they can take to protect the community from environmental factors that contribute to cancer.

Susan Hoffman is a mother of 5 children and grandmother to 6 grandsons, and she wants to protect them so that they will be able to live lengthy, healthy and productive lives. She believes that there is an intimate connection between the health of our bodies and the integrity of our air, land and water. It is her conviction that increased awareness and action is the answer to preserve the well-being of our environment, thus supporting the WCPP’s mission to prevent cancer, a disease that has challenged us all. With a background in nursing, she is passionate about wellness and she is also reminded daily of how the health of our land is inextricably tied to our own. She believes that the WCPP can be a touchstone for future generations.

Anastasia Karakasidou is a professor of cultural anthropology at Wellesley College. Originally from Greece, Anastasia did her university studies in America and received her doctorate from Columbia University. Her early research and publications dealt with issues of ethnicity and nationality in the Balkans. Her book “Fields of Wheat, Hills of Blood” (1997) has been translated in five languages and offers a historical reconstruction of the Slavs of northern Greece. Her new research and teaching interests, however, center around the ‘cultures of cancer.’ She takes a comparative approach to cancer, and in her new publications compares the experience of cancer in various societies. Anastasia has been on the board of WCPP in the past and now she returns to assist with finding new ways to create awareness in the Wellesley community about the environmental origins of cancer and the ways we can prevent it.

Theresa Keresztes, a breast cancer survivor and mother of two young children is the founder of Radiant Sun, accompany she launched in 2008 to provide fragrance and dye-free, plant-based products for people seeking help with maintaining a healthy appearance as they undergo treatment for cancer. After her diagnosis at the age of 40 shortly after the birth of her son, Ms. Keresztes became more aware of healthier lifestyle choices that deal with nutrition and exercise and began to learn more about a potential causal relationship with these choices and cancer. After treatment, she was asked to join the WCPP board due to her interest in its mission and her work launching the non-profit My Girls Gala for Breast Cancer Research, a fundraiser held to benefit breast cancer survivors and their friends and families during and after treatment.

Nancy J. Roberge, PT, DPT, M.Ed.
Dr. Roberge has been a practicing Physical Therapist for over 35 years. For the past 20 years, she has focused on the oncology patient. Although she sees primarily those diagnosed with breast cancer, she also sees other oncology patients throughout their cancer treatment and for post-treatment rehabilitation. Her focus and emphasis has been on helping people get through their cancer journey in a more positive, more healthful way through manual physical therapy, exercise, use of the mind-body connection, and patient education. She believes that with Physical Therapy intervention, the cancer journey doesn’t have to be as difficult as she has seen it be for so many. Physical Therapy intervention in the oncology patient is critical in remediating the after effects of cancer treatment, allowing a person to attain their optimal level of function.

She is an active member of the American Physical Therapy Association and is the Oncology Section Legislative Chairman and teaches both undergraduate and graduate classes, locally, nationally and internationally.

Nancy is eager to see the cure for cancer and has long supported the efforts of Silent Spring Institute in Newton, MA who look at the possibilities of environmental causes of cancer. Her Oncology Physical Therapy practice has been in Wellesley for the past 10 years. She is honored to be a member of WCPP to help educate the public to safer lifestyles and to assist in identifying safer environments with the hopes of minimizing cancer’s impact in Wellesley and in the Commonwealth.

Angelique Tung

Phyllis Yawitt, Psy.D. has been a licensed clinical Psychologist for 26 years. Her interest in cancer, disease prevention and health promotion began with her training fellowship in Rehabilitation Psychology and Health Psychology at the University of Miami/ Jackson Medical Center. In addition to primary prevention, her focus is on the “Precautionary Principle”. It purports that if the state of evidence is strong regarding a substance’s harm, it is withheld or withdrawn from the market. In particular, Dr. Yawitt is highly motivated to protect all children in the community and beyond, threatened by toxic products in our midst. She believes that knowledge is power, and that education through consciousness-raising, advocacy, and activism is warranted to accomplish the goal of a friendlier, healthier environment. Family incidences of various cancers have struck her grandmother, grandfather, uncle, father and husband. Dr. Yawitt has lived in Wellesley for 27 years with her husband and West Highland terrier. She has four adult children, two children-by-marriage, and several grandchildren.

Advisory Board
Cheryl Colbert
Amy Collins, M.D.
Elizabeth S. Homa
Sarah Little, Ph.D
Richard Morse
Viola Morse
Beth Nast
Alice Shabecoff
Philip Shabecoff
Peter Solomon
Amanda Zarle