About Us

Marty Tenenbaum is a renowned computer scientist, Internet entrepreneur and cancer survivor. He founded Cancer Commons and CollabRx (NASD: CRLX) to help each cancer patient obtain the best possible outcome. He is an Internet commerce pioneer and visionary, having founded EIT (1990) and CommerceNet (1994) to accelerate business use of the Internet, and later, was an officer and director of Commerce One, Webify Solutions (sold to IBM in 2006),  and Medstory (sold to Microsoft in 2007). He currently serves on the boards of Efficient Finance, Patients Like Me, and the Public Library of Science (PLoS).

Dr. Tenenbaum is a fellow and former board member of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AAAI), and a former consulting professor of Computer Science at Stanford. He holds B.S. and M.S. degrees in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from MIT, and a Ph.D. from Stanford.

Emma Shtivelman is a molecular and cell biologist with extensive experience in cancer biology. She has in-depth understanding of cancer signal transduction and metabolism, cancer models in vitro and in vivo, target and drug discovery and validation, assay development, and preclinical research. She has technical expertise in numerous modern methodologies employed to understand the molecular basis of human malignancies and advance preclinical and clinical research.

Emma received her PhD in molecular biology from the Weizmann Institute of Science where she identified the fused transcript between two cellular genes, BCR and ABL in chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML), the first demonstration of an oncogenic gene product derived from a chromosomal translocation. As a postdoctoral fellow at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), she characterized the molecular consequences of chromosomal translocations in Burkitt lymphoma and identified gene products relevant to the pathogenesis of neuroblastoma.  She worked at SyStemix on establishing a novel SCID-hu metastasis model to enable the in vivo analysis of human tumor metastasis. She continued her research activity at the UCSF Cancer Center analyzing deregulation of signal transduction pathways in human cancer and the molecular underpinnings of metastatic progression. Before joining Cancer Commons, Emma worked at BioNovo, Inc., researching new drugs that selectively disrupt metabolism of breast and pancreatic cancers by targeting their metabolic preferences.

Adrienne Nugent is a research scientist with expertise in functional, translational, and clinical oncology. She earned her PhD in genetics and genomics at Duke University, where she used cell cultures, mouse models, and patient tissues to identify and characterize the oncogenic role of genetic alterations in lymphoma. She completed fellowships at the National Institutes of Health, where she used CRISPR screening to investigate the functional underpinnings of multiple sclerosis, and Hampton University, where she explored the biases in next generation sequencing diagnostics and their role in exacerbating cancer health disparities. More recently, she was Associate Director of Somatic Oncology Development at Invitae, where she worked to develop a semi-quantitative somatic variant and biomarker interpretation platform. 

Throughout her career, Adrienne has focused on understanding the genetic complexity of cancer in order to identify avenues for targeting cancer biomarkers with novel therapeutics. Much of her scientific career has focused on developing interpretation systems to integrate genomic, transcriptomic, and proteomic data in solid tumors and hematological malignancies. Her work has been published in numerous journals and has led to a better understanding of the role of genetics in disease pathology and treatment outcomes. Adrienne is passionate about improving the treatment of cancer patients by leveraging clinical and functional genomic information in a manner that is evidence-based and prioritizes the human patient rather than simply the tumor profile.

Glenn Sabin is founder of FON Consulting, a strategy and business development firm focused on integrative health, regenerative medicine, and integrative and personalized oncology.

He is a 30+ year cancer thriver and author of n of 1: One Man’s Harvard-Documented Remission of Incurable Cancer Using Only Natural Methods. Mr. Sabin is also a faculty member at Duke University’s Leadership Program in Health and Well-Being, where he presents a course on Health and Well-being Thought Leadership.

For the past 25 years, Dr. Brandman has been deeply involved in all sectors of healthcare. She is trained and board-certified as a primary care internist, an emergency medicine physician, and a corporate medicine/preventive medicine specialist. She also received a master’s degree in public health in Data Science from the University of California, Berkeley. She has used this broad base of experience to work with health insurance payers, hospital systems, and provider groups to implement virtual care and Hospital-at-Home solutions, automate core administrative processes, and build e-business solutions with providers, HMOs, traditional insurers, hospital systems, and employers.

A technically savvy physician, she brings extensive experience in Health IT, ranging from work with standards organizations, including OASIS and HL-7, to developing Health Information Networks in Silicon Valley, Los Angeles, and California communities to share clinical information about patients. She has been a speaker on the future of Health Plans at HIMSS and Gartner conferences and frequently consults with telecommunications companies and device manufacturers on information strategy for the future.

In her clinical work, she has always been patient-focused, launching a 501(c)(3) charity, Compassionate Access, in 2011, which is dedicated to expanding access to drugs in early development for critically ill patients. She acted as the Medical Director (and remains involved with the development) of two advanced solutions in cancer: an active nanoparticle that manages cell-signaling proteins involved with the immune system to create apoptosis, and a complex antibody/viral vector that targets sugars across multiple cancer cell lines, again creating apoptosis.

Currently, she is working with Cancer Commons to launch a CRO-light technology platform integrated with supporting services (MTB, IRB, logistics management, and others) to support n-of-1 trials, investigator-led small trials, and community oncologists in accessing advanced treatments for patients with few options.

Ellen Beck is a front-line fundraiser with a proven record of success in leadership roles at major research universities during billion-dollar-plus campaigns. She has established a reputation for identifying, cultivating, and securing seven-figure major gifts, alongside leading successful development departments.

Before joining Cancer Commons as Consulting Chief Development Officer, Ms. Beck held leadership positions at three major research universities during historic, record-breaking billion-dollar-plus campaigns. Most recently, she served as the Executive Director of Development at MASS MoCA, a contemporary art museum under new management.

At UCLA’s College of Life Sciences and the Milken Institute School of Public Health, Ms. Beck successfully launched multi-level campaign projects, spearheaded long-term strategic planning, led high-performing development teams, and consistently surpassed fundraising goals. Her work at UCLA Life Sciences, the largest division on campus, focused on enhancing endowment support for faculty and students as part of the Centennial Campaign. During her tenure, she:

• Built a prestigious Centennial Campaign Board of Directors and Dean’s Council.
• Launched and executed The Anatomy of a Major Gift faculty development training.
• Secured nine new endowed chairs and five capital naming gifts.
• Exceeded the Centennial Campaign goal by 100%.

At the Milken School of Public Health, as Associate Vice President of Advancement, Ms. Beck exceeded a $16M campaign goal six months ahead of schedule and led efforts for the newly established Fitzhugh Mullen Institute for Health Workforce Equity. She also served on the Vice President’s Executive Leadership Council and the Dean’s Advisory Council.

Ms. Beck has a track record of building strong philanthropic relationships, engaging donors, board members, and prospects to foster meaningful philanthropic partnerships. Her ability to generate excitement and personal investment has consistently resulted in transformational gifts.

Ms. Beck is deeply committed to advancing the vision of Cancer Commons, focusing on expanding philanthropic support to serve more patients facing critical health challenges.

As Director of Patient Services, Lauren focuses on ensuring patients and caregivers have support and personalized care the moment they connect with Cancer Commons. Lauren oversees logistical processes and operationalizes patient feedback.

Prior to joining Cancer Commons, she supported patients at a renowned healthcare facility and was a social worker for children with disabilities. Those roles were informed by more than ten years of client-facing work.

Lauren holds a Master of Arts in Criminal Justice and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from U.C. Santa Barbara, and is a commercial flight instructor.

A 1995 “pioneer” of the medical Internet, Dr. Lundberg was born in Florida in 1933, grew up in lower Alabama, and holds earned and honorary degrees from North Park College; Baylor University; the University of Alabama (Birmingham and Tuscaloosa); the State University of New York, Syracuse; Thomas Jefferson University; and the Medical College of Ohio.

Dr. Lundberg received his MD in 1957 and has split the ensuing 62 work years across 4 key domains:

• • First Quarter: government service; U.S. Army Medical Corps, Vietnam Era, LTC, and Los Angeles County (Laboratory Director).
  • Second Quarter: full time academia; USC (Professor of Pathology) and UC Davis (Professor and Chair of Pathology).
  • Third Quarter: not-for-profit publishing (Editor in Chief JAMA and VP for all scientific publishing AMA)
  • Fourth Quarter: for-profit entrepreneurialism (Medscape, WebMD, MedPage Today, Everyday Health, CollabRx, Self Care Catalysts, PotentiaMetrics, Cureus) and not for profit (Cancer Commons, Harvard, Stanford, Northwestern,The Lundberg Institute).

Dr. Lundberg has worked in tropical medicine and forensic medicine in multiple countries. He is past president of the American Society for Clinical Pathology. A frequent lecturer and webcasting guest and host and a member of the National Academy of Medicine, in 2000, The Industry Standard dubbed Dr. Lundberg “Online Healthcare’s Medicine Man.”

Shan brings her passion for health equity and medical research to her work at Cancer Commons after having served American Cancer Society for twelve years in multiple capacities, from operations and regional director to grant writer for fourteen western US states, the Pacific Rim (Guam), and Africa (Kenya).

She has raised significant funding for patient navigation, community healthcare, patient transportation and patient/caregiver lodging during treatment, healthcare systems change, and medical research. Outside of the cancer space, her fundraising work has focused on responses to environmental and systemic racism.

Prior to moving into the development field, Shan studied music and worked in journalism at the University of California, Irvine. She has been the conductor of University Synagogue Choir for over twenty years and sings professionally for organizations of several different faith traditions.

As Chief of Staff, Masako takes care of critical logistics so that Cancer Commons Chairman Marty Tenenbaum can focus on the vision of Cancer Commons and make it a reality. She serves as a trusted liaison between Marty and the Cancer Commons team and ensures efficient, productive, and up-to-date communications.

Prior to joining Cancer Commons, Masako worked in a variety of sectors, including venture capital, real estate, academia, and technology. With 15+ years of experience supporting C-level executives, she aspires to apply all her knowledge and assist the team to achieve the best resolutions. As a non-smoker lung cancer survivor, she is committed to increasing awareness of the stigma surrounding this particular form of cancer.

Masako, a native of Japan, has a B.A. and M.A. in music and teaches piano and voice. She also appears with a 17-instrument big band in the San Francisco Bay Area. She has directed programs to benefit Cancer Commons and performed music by George Gershwin, who is believed to have succumbed to glioblastoma.

As Manager of Accounting & Contracts, Martha Dehnow handles all aspects of finance and accounting for Cancer Commons. Her specialty is helping startups and small companies grow to their fullest potential by allowing founders to focus on their core business. Prior to Cancer Commons, Martha worked for CommerceNet and BDNA Corporation. She has also worked for early stage startups, such as EIT and Veo Systems, which were later acquired by VeriFone, Hewlett-Packard, and CommerceOne.

At Cancer Commons, Sarah Stanley prepares actionable, reader-friendly content for people dealing with cancer. She has also written for Stanford Medicine, PLOS, the University of Washington, Kaiser Permanente, the American Geophysical Union, and more. Sarah studied microbiology at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Filipe is responsible for all things related to the visual styling of the Cancer Commons brand. Based in sunny Lisbon, Portugal, he has a degree in graphic design and a passion—and obsession—for coherently beautiful designs in all of Cancer Commons’ touch points and marketing efforts.

Beyond Cancer Commons, Filipe has collaborated with companies of all sizes across three continents and produced designs in eight different languages. His mission is to contribute towards a prettier world, and he hopes to see Comic Sans banned from every computer someday.