Reverend Patrick H. O’Connor is the Lead Pastor of the First Presbyterian Church in Jamaica, a multicultural congregation in New York City. He has served this congregation since 1992. He is the architect and chief visionary of many of First Church’s holistic ministries.

Most notable is the “Tree of Life,” a $74 million dollar affordable, mixed-income housing development in partnership with the Bluestone Organization. The highlight of the building is that it contains 174 rental housing units, 9.500 square feet of community facility space, a 15,000 square foot Federally Qualified Health Center run by the Community Health Care Center, a Citibank branch, and offices for Cornell University Cooperative Extension Program. 

Reverend O’Connor received his formal education from the University of the West Indies, the United Theological College of the West Indies, and Yale University. Rev. O’Connor is also a graduate of the Columbia Business School, Institute for Not-for-Profit Management, Executive Level program, and the Beeson Institute for Advanced Church Leadership.

He is a Director of the Greater Jamaica Development Corporation, Chairman of First Jamaica Community and Urban Development Corporation, and a Board member of the Industrial Areas Foundation. He is a Clergy Liaison for the New York City Police Department, 103rd Precinct, and was a fellow at the Aspen Institute in 2017.

Dr. Waseem Hussain obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in biology from Carnegie Mellon University in 1992, where he graduated with honors. He received his medical degree in 1996 from the University of Maryland School of Medicine. Dr. Hussain finished his residency in 1999 at the MacNeal Family Practice Residency in Berwyn, Illinois. 

He began his career as a Board-Certified Family Physician at Riverside Family Medicine in 1999. Further, Dr. Hussain served as the Medical Director of the emergency department at the Fayette County Hospital from 2005 to 2007. His work experience also includes providing primary care to underserved populations in rural and urban areas. Since July 2020, Dr. Hussain has served as the Associate Regional Medical Director of Primary Care at Luminis Health. 

In 2007, he became a Fellow in the American Academy of Family Physicians. Dr. Hussain has also received numerous awards throughout his career, including receiving the Top Doctor Castle Connelly award yearly from 2012 to 2020 and being named the “Top Doctor” in the Washingtonian Magazine in 2015, 2016, and 2017. 

Marc B. Garnick, M.D., is the Gorman Brothers Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School (HMS) and the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, where he also directs the hospital’s role as a tertiary cancer center for many of its affiliated community cancer centers. He has established initiatives to help underserved patients and families address the non-medical and financial challenges that a cancer diagnosis poses. He completed fellowships at the National Institutes of Health and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and is a member of the Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center. Dr. Garnick previously served as Executive Vice President at several biotechnology companies.  

He serves as the editor in chief for the HMS Report on Prostate Diseases and its associated website. He served as the initial academic co-principal investigator for the commonly used prostate cancer drug leuprolide (Lupron). He has received multiple awards including the Distinguished Medical Alumni Service Award from the Perelman School of Medicine, the Jack Colbert Award for Prostate Cancer Research, and the Whittier Health Medical Center Men’s Champion Award. He has recently completed a 10-year tenure as a special governmental advisory member of multiple FDA panels and advisory committees. He currently serves on the boards (scientific and corporate) of several life science companies. He has served on the board of trustees of the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and Penn Medicine. He is also a trustee emeritus of Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine. 

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.

William Joseph Davis Jr., is a native South Carolinian, 21 years Army veteran with multiple deployments under his belt including Desert Storm.  Prostate cancer has had a significant impact on the life of the men in his family.  Mr. Davis’s father, William Sr. was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2014 and eventually succumbed to the disease in 2019.   One of Mr. Davis’s brothers was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2020. Mr. Davis serves as a Veteran’s Service Officer for the American Legion where he proudly represents veterans to the VA.  He and his wife Linda reside in Denver, Colorado.  They are the proud parents of 5 children and 2 grandchildren.   Mr. Davis is a vocal advocate for awareness, education, and action on all health issues within the African American and Veteran communities.

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.