Patient Champion Crowned

Molly MacDonald took home the Patient Champion gong at our annual North American awards



Molly MacDonald was named the Patient Champion at our annual awards in Philadelphia last month for her tireless efforts in raising awareness and supporting women with breast cancer.

Commenting on her win, MacDonald said: “I was stunned and completely taken off guard.  The other finalists do awesome work and I was honored to stand in their company.  In fact, the night before I told my husband, ‘There is no way I am going to win.’ ”

She added, “The award is of critical importance as it give credence to our mission and work, and positions us before potential donors who can help enlarge our reach.”   

Macdonald has used her voice to advocate for women in treatment for breast cancer experiencing financial toxicity, sharing her story and theirs.

She founded The Pink Fund, which provides financial support to meet basic needs, decrease stress levels and allow breast cancer survivors to focus on healing while improving survivorship outcomes.

Macdonald is a sought-after speaker on this subject, demonstrating the real problems and decisions patients make around treatment, when cost of care and lost income are factors.

As a columnist for Breast Cancer Wellness Magazine, MacDonald writes on ways patients can mitigate the financial burdens of treatment.  She sits on the board of VBID, Value Based Insurance Design out of the University of Michigan, where insurance companies, pharma, providers, and consultants meet to discuss how to reduce the cost of health care to patients while providing high value outcomes.

In 2018 she presented a case study on financial toxicity with respect to breast cancer and sat on a panel exploring potential solutions at the Patient Advocacy Engagement Conference in Baltimore.  She led a roundtable discussion at the eyeforpharma Im-Patient Conference in Philadelphia and sat on a patient panel at the Association for Value Based Cancer Care Summit in New York City. She has been invited to join the speaking faculty in April 2019 at CBI’s Formulary, Copay and Access Conference. 

You can find out about the other finalists here