Dani Grady

Dani Grady is a person who never gives up. Diagnosed with advanced breast cancer at the age of 29, she fought her way through multiple surgical procedures, chemotherapy, and severe septicemia, to beat the odds. Taking lessons from her own odyssey, she dedicated herself to helping patients make informed decisions about their treatment options by assisting them to use available information and resources. Hired by the UC San Diego Cancer Center as Patient Ombudsman and Clinical Care Coordinator, she became a one-person database, counseling patients on treatment choices and current clinical trials. She also became a "matchmaker" - linking patients with appropriate physicians and protocols. Dani was designated by the National Cancer Institute as the San Diego resource for public information on cancer. Additionally, she started Sports Buddies!, a big brother/big sister program that linked more than one hundred pediatric oncology patients with UC San Diego intercollegiate athletes.

Her belief that cancer survivors make the best patient mentors motivated Dani to propose the idea for a network of survivors to support and counsel new patients. Called the Thrivers' Network, her idea was presented to the UC San Diego Cancer Center Foundation and received their go-ahead in the Fall of 1993. (The name Thrivers' Network is derived from Dani's firm belief that thriving is a lot more fun than merely surviving.) As Executive Director, she established an executive committee of cancer survivors and family members, and trained a corps of volunteers to help new cancer patients find the hope and strength to remake their lives.

Dani's mission to provide support and education to patients led her to organize five "Beyond Surviving - Thriving!" Cancer Survivorship Symposia, and to serve as co-chair for three community-wide National Cancer Survivorship Day celebrations. She also played a crucial role in securing one million dollars from Richard and Annette Bloch for a Cancer Survivorship Park that will be established this fall at Spanish Landing. She is a founder and chair of Cancer Survivorship San Diego!, now in its second year. This organization is an unprecedented collaboration of all area cancer support organizations and hospitals.

Despite the seriousness of this work, Dani is by no means a drudge. As she puts it, "My middle name is 'Fun.'" When she is not bicycling across the country, she is an avid basketball player, scuba diver, weight lifter, and midnight gardener. Dani is very fond of the water and was recently a finalist in the World Body Surfing Championships. She lives in Coronado with her very supportive husband, Dr. Ralph Greenspan, a geneticist at The Neurosciences Institute, and her Abyssinian kitty, Lilly.