Dr. Peter Francis joined Janssen Oncology in the US in October 2015 as a Medical Director focusing on prostate cancer, specifically abiraterone acetate with prednisone, apalutamide and niraparib. He participated in multiple work streams in support of the prostate cancer franchise including key opinion leader engagement, advisory boards, promotional material review, business development, Real World evidence gathering as well as Sales Specialist and MSL training. He has also helped to develop several new clinical study concepts to fill in knowledge gaps in the management of prostate cancer.

He obtained his medical degree at the New York University School of Medicine in 1985 and finished a three-year internship and residency in Internal Medicine at the Boston Medical Center (combination of Boston University and Boston City Hospitals). He then spent 4 and ½ years at the National Cancer Institute, specializing in the preclinical development of antifungal drugs in a novel animal model system that is still generating data today.

Peter draws on over 22 years of experience as a practicing hematologist-oncologist in Northern Virginia where he cared for patients with an extensive array of solid tumors and malignant and benign hematologic disorders, placing dozens of patients on clinical trials sponsored by the NCI as well as industry partners.

In 2007, Peter was in the graduating class of the George Washington University School of Business, completing a 2-year MBA program in Health Care with special interests in Health Policy and Pharmacoeconomics.

He has been on the Global Medical Affairs team as the GMAL for niraparib and early prostate cancer assets. He looks forward to daily challenges in advancing niraparib in the management of prostate cancer and introducing novel pipeline agents in solid tumors to internal and external stakeholders.

Mr. Norman Ceasar was born and raised in Washington, DC. I attended the District of Columbia Public Schools and graduated from Woodward Preparatory School and later took classes at the University of the District of Columbia, UDC. Worked for the US Postal Service until I retired, after 34 years of service, in 2009. Part-time during those years, I also invested in Real Estate. I purchased houses that needed work, renovated them, and then rented them out.

I was inspired to write this book on surviving prostate cancer because of my experience with the disease, I realized the importance of making other men aware and educating them about prostate cancer. Too many men have died and are dying from prostate cancer. For those who died, their deaths may have been avoided with just a little more knowledge about the disease. It is highly curable if caught early.

My mission is to tell my story of how I survived prostate cancer. Mainly because cancer was detected early when it is most curable. I survived prostate cancer by getting my physical and my blood work done every year in January my birth month starting at age 35.

I wanted to live and be here for my family. I believed God had more for me to do. I prayed for His wisdom and then took the steps necessary to make that happen. I did the research necessary to become informed of my options, talking with my doctors, and family, and finally choosing the best treatment for myself. I had to fight the battle in my mind when thoughts of doubt of my decisions would rear its head.

Geeta Devgan, PhD is the US Medical Affairs Franchise Team Lead for Prostate Cancer at Pfizer. She has over 15 years of oncology experience in multiple cross-functional medical leadership roles, across solid tumors and hematologic malignancies, focused on developing and executing medical strategies at all stages of a product’s lifecycle.  Geeta earned her Ph.D. in Molecular, Cellular & Developmental Biology at Yale University with a focus on understanding kinase signaling pathways with protein microarray technology.  She also conducted postdoctoral research on serum peptide patterns in cancer patients using mass spectrometry at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.

Dr. Robert S. Bridwell is a Medical Advisor at SOFIE Co. and the Founder and Chief Medical Officer at Appian 360. He is also the Founder and CMO of Bridwell Consulting Services. He has worked as a Medical Director at Medical Outsourcing Services, LLC and has a background as Chief of Nuclear Medicine for the Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

Dr. Bridwell obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in Biophysics from the University of California at Berkeley. He received his medical degree from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Maryland and his MBA from Regis University in Denver, Colorado.

Dr. Bridwell is a member of the Society of Nuclear Medicine & Molecular Imaging as well as the European Society of Nuclear Medicine. He was also awarded the Army Commendation Medal in 1998, the Army Achievement Medal in 1999, and another Army Commendation Medal in 2000.

Dr. Alessandra Cesano has been ESSA’s Chief Medical Officer since 2019 and Executive Vice President since 2023. Prior to joining ESSA, Dr. Cesano served as Chief Medical Officer at NanoString Inc., focusing on the development of translational and diagnostic multi-plexed assays for the characterization and measurement of mechanisms of immune response and resistance. Previously, Dr. Cesano was the Chief Medical Officer at Cleave Biosciences, Inc., and Nodality, Inc. Throughout her career, Dr. Cesano has held various management positions at Amgen, Biogen Idec and SmithKline Beecham Pharmaceuticals, where she helped advance various oncology drugs through late-stage development and FDA approvals. Early in her professional career, Dr. Cesano spent 12 years conducting research in tumor immunology, including nine years at the Wistar Institute, an NCI Basic Cancer Center connected with the University of Pennsylvania, and she has authored over 100 publications. Dr. Cesano received an M.D. summa cum laude, a Board Certification in Oncology and a Ph.D. in Tumor Immunology from the University of Turin