Colorectal Cancer Coalition

Board of Directors

Nancy Roach, Chair, Board of Directors
A cancer survivor and advocate, Nancy knows how to make a difference. Nancy has been involved with the colorectal cancer community since 1996 when her mother-in-law was diagnosed with rectal cancer, and was a co-founder of the Colon Cancer Alliance in 1999. She works with the gastrointestinal research community, government agencies, elected officials and corporations, always pushing on behalf of people touched by colorectal cancer. She is affiliated with the National Cancer Institute Clinical Trials Working Group GI Steering Committee and SPORE program, and serves on the editorial board of the American Association of Cancer Research’s consumer magazine. She founded C3 in 2005 in order to provide focus, infrastructure and support to the growing colorectal cancer advocacy movement.

Alan Balch, PhD, Vice Chair
Alan is the Vice President of the Preventive Health Partnership, a coalition effort of the American Cancer Society, the American Diabetes Association and the American Heart Association. Prior to this, Alan was the Executive Director of Friends of Cancer Research. Alan became involved with public health advocacy after losing his grandmother to colorectal cancer in 2003.

Steven W. Depp, Ph.D, Treasurer
As a survivor of stage IV colon cancer, Steve helped found a local cancer support group and is an active advocate of research in cancer screening, diagnosis and treatment. He brings a physicist’s perspective to cancer advocacy, having retired in 2004 from IBM Research where he spent 27 years performing and directing research in the areas of displays, printers, storage and personal computers. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and has served on academic advisory boards at the University of Michigan, Rochester Institute of Technology and the University of Colorado.

Robert Erwin, Secretary
Bob Erwin has been active in cancer advocacy since co-founding the Marti Nelson Cancer Foundation in 1994 with his late wife, Marti. Bob served on the California Breast Cancer Research Council from 1996 to 1999, where he acted as chair from 1997 to 1999. He has served on FDA panels examining the process of drug review and approval, and has spoken on these issues in numerous advocacy and industry forums. He currently sits on the Data Safety and Monitoring Committee for Cancer and Leukemia Group B (CALGB), a national cancer cooperative group.

Gordon Cole
Gordon was a healthy 54-year-old male with no symptoms when he was diagnosed with stage IV colorectal cancer in 2003. The Greensboro, NC commercial real estate appraiser (semi-retired) puts a large portion of his time into helping newly diagnosed patients navigate through the maze of difficulties and roadblocks often found when fighting this disease. He is also involved in fundraising for colorectal cancer research. Gordon has been involved in C3’s Call on Congress since 2007, and is also active with the North Carolina Comprehensive Cancer Program’s Survivorship Workgroup and other local survivor-related organizations.

Medical Review Network

• Al B. Benson III, MD, FACP Northwestern University
• Nancy Baxter, MD, FRCSC St. Michael’s Hospital, University of Toronto
• Richard M. Goldberg, MD University of North Carolina School of Medicine
• Axel Grothey, MD Mayo Clinic College of Medicine
• Heinz-Joseph Lenz, MD, FACP University of Southern California
• John Marshall, MD Georgetown University Medical Center
• Howard McLeod, PharmD University of North Carolina
• Neal J. Meropol, MD Fox Chase Cancer Center
• Edith Mitchell, MD Thomas Jefferson University
• Daniel J. Sargent, PhD Mayo Clinic College of Medicine
• Joel E. Tepper, MD University of North Carolina School of Medicine

Last Update: December 3, 2009