Sue Friedman

Dr. Sue Friedman was practicing small animal medicine in south Florida in 1996 when she was diagnosed “out of the blue” at age 33 with breast cancer. At the time, she was unaware of familial risk factors for hereditary cancer. Reading an article about hereditary breast cancer, Sue realized that she had several indications for an inherited cancer-causing mutation. She pursued genetic counseling, and in 1997, tested positive for a BRCA2 mutation.

Shocked that her health care team didn’t alert her to the possibility of being at high risk, and disappointed at having to make critical treatment decisions while unaware of her mutation, Sue acted so others could benefit from her misfortune. She founded FORCE (www.facingourrisk.org) in 1999 to fill the information void for individuals and families with hereditary cancer, and to help them advocate for themselves. After five years as the organization’s executive director while maintaining her own busy veterinary practice, Sue left veterinary medicine to direct FORCE full-time. Since then, the organization has been recognized as a leading authority on research, advocacy, support, and information regarding risk management, prevention, detection, and treatment of hereditary cancer. javascript:void(0)javascript:void(0)