Laurie Adami, Patient Advocate

The Health Design Podcast

Laurie had a 25 year career in financial services and was President of Los Angeles-based fixed income software firm Capital Management Sciences (IDC Fixed Income Analytics). Diagnosed with incurable Stage IV follicular non-Hodgkin lymphoma at the age of 46 in 2006, Laurie was forced to retire to focus on her health and had 12 years of continuous cancer treatment. She had seven different lines of therapy including 3 clinical trials. In 2018, she received CAR-T in a clinical trial and finally achieved a complete remission where she remains today. Laurie spends considerable time assisting cancer patients navigating the challenges a cancer diagnosis brings. She is a Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) First Connection volunteer reaching out to newly diagnosed and relapsed blood cancer patients to provide support. She is also an LLS Public Policy Volunteer Advocate, fighting for legislative changes to benefit cancer patients in Washington D.C. and Sacramento, CA. She is an active volunteer fundraiser for LLS and is currently raising $250,000 for LLS funded immunotherapy research grants. In combination with that, she is in training to climb to the Mount Everest Base Camp with a group of her oncologists and other patients. Unable to travel internationally as a result of her tweaked immune system, Laurie will complete the 26.2 mile D.C. Marine Corps Marathon on October 30, 2022. She welcomes any and all donations to her LLS fundraiser at www.bit.ly/CarTSupergirl - all donations will fund immunotherapy research via LLS research grants. In order to raise awareness of the groundbreaking immunotherapy, CAR T, that finally led to her being cancer free, Laurie has written numerous articles for publication in a variety of media and enjoys public speaking opportunities. She served on the Wells Bring Hope Board of Directors for 8 years, with the mission of bringing safe water to Niger, one of the poorest countries in the world and was also on the Board of Directors of Audit Integrity/GMI Ratings until its sale to MSCI. Laurie was a Russian language and International Relations major at Colgate University. She resides in the Hollywood Hills in Los Angeles with her husband, Ben, and they have a son, August who graduated from college in Washington D.C. in May 2022. August was in kindergarten when Laurie was diagnosed and spent his entire elementary, middle and high school years with a mom in cancer treatment. You can donate to her cause here: http://pages.lls.org/tnt/calso/corps22/LAdami