Lung Cancer Survivor-Advocate Nichelle Stigger Joins LUNGevity Foundation’s Board of Directors

WASHINGTON, DC (April 14, 2020) — LUNGevity Foundation, the nation’s leading lung cancer-focused nonprofit organization, announced today that lung cancer patient-advocate Nichelle Stigger has joined LUNGevity’s Board of Directors. Her experience as a patient and her passion as an advocate for women of color will expand the Board’s perspective and strengthen the Foundation’s work of improving outcomes for people with lung cancer.

LUNGevity is strategic in building its Board of Directors to offer diverse viewpoints in order to best serve the patient community. “Nichelle’s personal understanding of the challenges that lung cancer patients face will be invaluable on our Board of Directors,” said Andrea Ferris, president and CEO of LUNGevity Foundation. “We look forward to working with her to expand our outreach and better serve the needs of people living with lung cancer.”

“I’m honored to join this Board and bring my voice as a survivor and advocate to amplify the important work that LUNGevity is doing,” says Nichelle Stigger. “I know I will be heard, and my viewpoint will not only be considered, but valued.”

Nichelle’s personal mission to help other women of color survive cancer aligns with LUNGevity’s commitment to ensure all people diagnosed with lung cancer—irrespective of their geographic location, socioeconomic status, race, or ethnicity—have optimal cancer care and access to resources that can help them navigate their disease. “Lung cancer patients are already an underserved population within the cancer community,” says Nichelle. “Lung cancer has more stigma and less funding than other cancers.  My goal is equitable treatment of people of color in lung cancer, and in cancer in general, making it the right community to push this goal forward.”

Nichelle’s lung cancer journey began in 2016 when she was diagnosed with a rare form of lung cancer found in only 1% of cancer patients. After two surgeries, including the removal of her left lobe and lymph nodes, she has been cancer-free since 2017.  She has made it her mission to educate, engage, and organize those in powerful positions to bring about change in the pursuit of equity for the lung cancer community. She is an educator in Illinois and, in addition to her passion for equality in cancer care, is an advocate for equality in education.

LUNGevity looks forward to working with Nichelle to help improve outcomes for people living with lung cancer.

About LUNGevity Foundation

LUNGevity is the nation's leading lung cancer organization investing in lifesaving, translational research and providing support services and education for patients and caregivers. LUNGevity’s goals are three-fold: (1) accelerate research to patients, (2) empower patients to be active participants in their treatment decisions, and (3) remove barriers that patients face in accessing the right treatments.

LUNGevity Foundation is firmly committed to making an immediate impact on increasing quality of life and survivorship of people with lung cancer by accelerating research into early detection and more effective treatments, as well as by providing community, support, and education for all those affected by the disease. LUNGevity’s comprehensive resources include a medically vetted website, a toll-free HELPLine in partnership with CancerCare®, a unique Lung Cancer Navigator app, peer-to-peer mentoring for patients and caregivers (LUNGevity LifeLine), and survivorship conferences. LUNGevity also helps patients find and navigate clinical trials through our Clinical Trial Finder tool, a Clinical Trial Ambassador program, and participation with EmergingMed.

Our vision is a world where no one dies of lung cancer. For more information about LUNGevity Foundation, a four-star Charity Navigator organization, please visit www.LUNGevity.org.

About Lung Cancer in the U.S.

• About 1 in 16 Americans will be diagnosed with lung cancer in their lifetime
• More than 228,000 people in the U.S. will be diagnosed with lung cancer this year
• About 60%-65% of all new lung cancer diagnoses are among people who have never smoked or are former smokers
• Lung cancer takes more lives than the next three leading cancers (colorectal, breast, and prostate) combined
• Only 19% of all people diagnosed with lung cancer will survive 5 years or more, BUT if it’s caught before it spreads, the chance of 5-year survival improves dramatically