Our Board of Directors

Linda Griffith and her husband Graham chose to raise their two children in Wellesley 31 years ago, and highly value efforts to sustain Wellesley’s environment. Working as a Director in Marketing Programs, Communication and Business Development for various technology companies globally, Linda focused on healthcare applications, education and targeted initiatives or events to increase public awareness. For the last 10 years, as a volunteer, Linda has worked as an elected Officer and a member of the Long Range Planning Committee for the Quonochontaug Central Beach Fire District in Rhode Island to develop and execute policies and practices that will help sustain the natural resources in this beach community. As a recent breast cancer survivor, and the daughter of an ovarian cancer survivor, Linda brings to the Wellesley Cancer Prevention Project a desire to increase the awareness, participation and knowledge of Wellesley residents regarding actions they can take to protect the community from environmental factors that contribute to cancer.

Susan Hoffman is a mother of 5 children and grandmother to 6 grandsons, and she wants to protect them so that they will be able to live lengthy, healthy and productive lives. She believes that there is an intimate connection between the health of our bodies and the integrity of our air, land and water. It is her conviction that increased awareness and action is the answer to preserve the well-being of our environment, thus supporting the WCPP’s mission to prevent cancer, a disease that has challenged us all. With a background in nursing, she is passionate about wellness and she is also reminded daily of how the health of our land is inextricably tied to our own. She believes that the WCPP can be a touchstone for future generations.

Anastasia Karakasidou is a professor of cultural anthropology at Wellesley College. Originally from Greece, Anastasia did her university studies in America and received her doctorate from Columbia University. Her early research and publications dealt with issues of ethnicity and nationality in the Balkans. Her book “Fields of Wheat, Hills of Blood” (1997) has been translated in five languages and offers a historical reconstruction of the Slavs of northern Greece. Her new research and teaching interests, however, center around the ‘cultures of cancer.’ She takes a comparative approach to cancer, and in her new publications compares the experience of cancer in various societies. Anastasia has been on the board of WCPP in the past and now she returns to assist with finding new ways to create awareness in the Wellesley community about the environmental origins of cancer and the ways we can prevent it.

Theresa Keresztes, a breast cancer survivor and mother of two young children, founded Radiant Sun, a company she launched in 2008 that provides fragrance and toxin-free, plant-based OTC products for people seeking help with maintaining a healthy appearance as they undergo treatment for cancer. After her diagnosis at the age of 40 shortly after the birth of her son, Ms. Keresztes became more aware of healthier lifestyle choices that deal with nutrition and exercise and about Cialis potential causal relationships with these choices and cancer.  After treatment, she was asked to join the WCPP board due to her interest in its mission and her work launching the My Girls Gala for Breast Cancer Research, a fundraiser held to benefit breast cancer survivors and their caretakers.  Theresa holds an MBA from Babson College’s Olin School of Business and a Bachelor of Arts from Fordham University in New York City.

Phyllis Yawitt, Psy.D. has been a licensed clinical Psychologist for 26 years. Her interest in cancer, disease prevention and health promotion began with her training fellowship in Rehabilitation Psychology and Health Psychology at the University of Miami/ Jackson Medical Center. In addition to primary prevention, her focus is on the “Precautionary Principle”. It purports that if the state of evidence is strong regarding a substance’s harm, it is withheld or withdrawn from the market. In particular, Dr. Yawitt is highly motivated to protect all children in the community and beyond, threatened by toxic products in our midst. She believes that knowledge is power, and that education through consciousness-raising, advocacy, and activism is warranted to accomplish the goal of a friendlier, healthier environment. Family incidences of various cancers have struck her grandmother, grandfather, uncle, father and husband. Dr. Yawitt has lived in Wellesley for 27 years with her husband and West Highland terrier. She has four adult children, two children-by-marriage, and several grandchildren.

Aurelie Cormier has been working as a Clinical Nurse, Clinical Nurse Specialist or Nurse Practitioner for the last 35  years, 28 of which have been focused in Oncology, especially Women’s Cancers. She received her BS in Nursing and her MS in Rehabilitation Oncology, both from Boston University as well as a Post Masters Nurse Practitioner Certificate from the University of Massachusetts/Worcester with a sub-specialty in Cancer Prevention and Control.   She currently works at Massachusetts General Hospital. Her special areas of interest are Successful Survivorship, Healing, Wellness Promotion, Prevention, and Women’s Health.  She has done a considerable amount of writing, lecturing, and staff and patient education.  She is a contributing author for the book, Clinical Manual for the Oncology Advanced Practice Nurse (2nd Ed), and has written a chapter for the book, Multimodal Therapy in Oncology Nursing.   She has lectured on a local as well as National level.  Most recently she presented a workshop at the Partners in Perinatal Health Conference entitled, “Mindful conception and pregnancy: Creating a legacy for our children” with the Director of Research at Silent Spring. Aurelie’s instincts and passions have always been in the area of prevention and survivorship.  Working at some of the finest hospitals in the country, she has seen the benefits of technological advancements for the treatment of disease.  Her patients have taught her as much as she has taught them.  She has witnessed the impact of our changing foods, lifestyle, medications and environments on our health.   After caring for all of her patients over the years, she believes wholeheartedly, that we must balance these technological treatments with efforts and resources towards successful prevention and survivorship.  It is towards this end, that she has most recently launched Beyond Cancer Survival, beyondcancersurvival.com, and her online community blog pages,  facebook.com/pages/Beyond-Cancer-Survival, to compile and disseminate resources and educational programs for families of cancer survivors or those from cancer prone families to prevent or reduce risk of cancers, especially in their children.  As a 10 year resident of Needham and a mother of a 14 year old daughter, she is thrilled to be part of the WCPP and to be in the company of such a vibrant and dedicated community of women who are passionate about the environment and the prevention of cancer.
Advisory Board

Cheryl Colbert
Amy Collins M.D.
Sarah Little, Ph.D
Richard Morse
Viola Morse
Alice Shabecoff
Philip Shabecoff
Peter Solomon
Amanda Zarle
Sarah Frost Azzam