The Extraordinary Journey of a Four-Time Cancer Survivor

Keep Going: Alicia Staley on Four-Time Cancer Survivorship, Patient Advocacy, and Building Better Clinical Research Peter Murphy Lewis sits down with Alicia Staley, Chief Patient Officer at Medidata and a four-time cancer survivor, for a conversation about identity, resilience, and why patient experience should shape healthcare technology. Alicia shares how surviving cancer four times changed the way she sees time, work, and purpose, and why she now fully embraces patient advocacy as part of who she is. They also discuss the overlooked roles that make clinical research work, the stubbornly outdated parts of healthcare that still frustrate her, and the simple message she would put on a billboard for anyone facing hard seasons: keep going. KEY TOPICS Alicia’s Four-Time Cancer Survivor Story • Processing what it means to survive cancer four times • Her first diagnosis of Hodgkin’s lymphoma in college • Learning to embrace survivorship as part of her identity How Personal Experience Shapes Leadership • Connecting an engineering background with patient advocacy • Improving the experience of patients in clinical trials • Putting the right tools in front of patients at the right time The Unseen People Behind Clinical Research • Clinical research site workers • Engineers and product teams • Patient-facing staff whose work often goes unrecognized Why Healthcare Technology Feels Extraordinary • Connecting patient data across systems • Improving access to medical information • Making clinical trial opportunities easier to explore What Still Feels Outdated • Alicia’s frustration with fax machines in healthcare • How outdated communication methods can damage the patient experience Mentorship and Personal Growth • The impact of Alicia’s career coach, Jill • Learning from multiple mentors and relationships • Turning personal experiences into a resource for others A Book Worth Reading • The Magic of Thinking Big • Why Alicia recommends it to her team and others The Message She Would Put on a Billboard • “Keep going” • Resilience, persistence, and taking life one step at a time EPISODE TIMESTAMPS 00:00 – Introducing Alicia Staley, four-time cancer survivor and Medidata Chief Patient Officer 01:12 – Wrestling with what it means to survive cancer four times 02:08 – How a college diagnosis reshaped her outlook on time and purpose 04:19 – Why she stopped resisting the cancer survivor identity 06:05 – Bringing an engineer’s mindset into patient advocacy 07:28 – Using technology to improve the patient experience in clinical trials 09:05 – The clinical research roles that rarely get public recognition 10:42 – How Alicia encourages and celebrates her team’s impact 13:00 – Why healthcare data integration is extraordinary 14:23 – How modern patient tools changed access to information 16:11 – Why fax machines still feel shocking in healthcare 17:57 – The value of a career coach and learning from many mentors 20:03 – Why The Magic of Thinking Big is her most recommended book 21:40 – The billboard message she would share with the world: “Keep going” ABOUT PEOPLE WORTH CARING ABOUT Thank you for listening to People Worth Caring About. If you found value in this episode, please follow the podcast and leave a 5-star rating to help others discover these important stories. For more information and to connect with our guests, visit: https://peopleworthcaringabout.com #HealthcareLeadership #PatientAdvocacy #ClinicalResearch #CancerSurvivorship #PeopleWorthCaringAbout