Misbah Baggia is the Manager, Cancer Program and compliance for the DuPage Medical Group. Misbah works with local community college Health Information Management (HIM) students to educate them about the cancer registry. She was instrumental in developing an internship program for Cancer Registry students at her facility. To Misbah, mentoring is all about sharing experiences. It is not only about the case-finding or abstracting. It is about the specialization in the art and science of learning by teaching.
Valerie Braemer, CTR
Valerie Braemer began her career in allied health working for a local hospital in the Health Information Management (HIM) department. She subsequently entered the cancer registry field and went on to earn her CTR in 1997. Over the next several years, Valerie worked as the cancer data manager in a CoC program and as client support with a pathology & nuclear medicine group. Further along in her career, she served as the QC specialist for the Cancer Registry of Greater California (CRGC). Valerie has been an active member of NCRA, her state association, CCRA, and the Northern California Cancer Registry Association (NCCRA) since the beginning of her career. In addition to her full-time position, Valerie works independently to provide abstracting services and CoC accreditation reviews for programs in California hospitals. Valerie states that she has had several mentors along the way to her success, and wants to do the same for others.
Sarah Burton has been working in the cancer registry field since 2001. She became a CTR in 2003. Sarah was previously in registry support for Electronic Registry Systems, Inc. (ERS) and a project director at Registry Partners. Sarah has experience in hospital registries and central registries. She knows that it is hard being out there on your own and is most interested in helping those who aspire to be CTRs. Sarah is a former NCRA President, and currently serves on the NCRA Mentoring Committee. She is President – elect of the Cancer Registrars of Illinois organization.
Barbara Dearmon, BS, CTR
Barbara Dearmon is the Manager of Oncology Support Services at Ascension, St. Vincent’s Healthcare in Jacksonville, FL. She manages cancer registry operations and monitors compliance with standards by the Commission on Cancer (CoC) and the National Accreditation Program for Breast Cancers (NAPBC). Barbara is responsible for reporting cancer incidence to the Florida Cancer Data System (FCDS) for three facilities. She very active in the Florida Cancer Registrars Association (FCRA) and serves on the St. John’s River State College HIT Advisory Committee. Barbara has published articles in the FCRA Suntimes, the FCRA’s newsletter and NCRA publications. Barbara is a Past President of NCRA and serves as the Chair of the NCRA Education Committee.
Nancy Drungilas-Ingram, BS, CTR
Although retired, Nancy Drungilas-Ingram remains active in the field of cancer registry and with local registrars. Nancy spent many years serving in hospital registries and continues to provide consultant services to a number of clients. Additionally, Nancy served as the Manager of Cancer Information Services at the University of California San Francisco Medical Center. She has been an active member of NCRA, the California Cancer Registrars Association (CCRA) and the Northern California Cancer Registrars Association (NCCRA). Nancy earned her BS and a Masters’ degree in business before moving to the field of medical technology and becoming a CTR.
Lelia Edwards has over 35 years in the cancer registry field and has been a CTR for the majority of them. She has worked in a National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) approved facility and has managed 13 cancer registries through an ACAD facility. Lelia is currently employed in the cancer registry at the University of Alabama at Birmingham Hospital. She is a Past President of the Alabama Cancer Registrars Association (ACRA), and remains active with the membership. Lelia believes mentoring is important for the cancer registry profession to survive and loves to share her vast knowledge with anyone who is interested in becoming successful in this field to ensure that there are qualified registrars for the future of the profession.
Maurice Frazier is the Coordinating Manager of the cancer registry at New York City Health and Hospital/Coney Island, NY. In this role, Maurice manages cancer registry operations, and is responsible for reporting cancer incidence to the New York State Cancer Registry (NYSCR), performing data abstraction and monitoring compliance with the CoC standards. Maurice became a mentor in order to provide learning opportunities, support, and guidance for students, something he missed when he was new to the field. Maurice has been in the field of cancer registry working in the cancer registry field for over 10 years.
Emily Freeman serves as a CTR for Franciscan Health, Indianapolis, a CoC-accredited cancer program. Emily became a CTR in 2016 and later earned her RHIT credential and a degree in HIT from Devry University. She is active in the Indiana Cancer Registrars Association (ICRA) and has served as bylaws committee chair. Emily values education and is passionate about helping others earn the CTR credential. She credits her journey to becoming a CTR to her supportive co-workers that served as her mentors.
Katherine Geverd has been in the healthcare field for 15+ years and is currently the Lead Clinical Abstractor at Syapse in Radnor, PA. With her background in nursing, Katherine worked in oncology patient care which sparked her passion for the field of oncology and the relationship between patient care, quality of life and cancer data. Katherine has served as Vice President, Chair of Recruitment and Retention, and on the Education Committee for the Oncology Registrar's Association of New Jersey (ORANJ). Katherine is passionate about supporting young registrars and affecting change through mentoring and empowering students.
Jackie Halsey is the current program director, and an instructor in the Rochester Community and Technical College (RCTC), an NCRA accredited Cancer Registry Management (CRM) program. Jackie has been in the cancer registry field since 2008 and has experience in both hospital and central registries. In addition to her teaching position, Jackie, abstracts for the Mayo Clinic. She is an active member of the Minnesota Cancer Registrars Association (MCRA) and has served in a variety of roles. Jackie has had many wonderful mentors throughout her career and wants to pay it forward by helping others succeed.
Vicki Hawhee is the QC/Education Specialist in the Cancer Registry at the Moffitt Cancer Center, in Florida. She received her BS from Florida State University (FSU) and interned in the lab at the University hospital in Jacksonville. Later, she joined the staff of Clearwater Community Hospital, earned a Master’s in Education from University of South Florida (USF) and taught various medical courses. In order to change professions, Vicki went back to school and earned her CTR. Since that time she has been with the Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, FL. Vicki believes mentoring is an excellent way to share her knowledge and help others get started in the profession.
Kashanna Hector is currently working at the Connecticut Department of Public Health, Tumor Registry. She received her RHIT credential in 2018 and her CTR in 2019, earning her practicum hours as a volunteer at a local CoC hospital facility. Kashanna graduated from Lincoln College of New England in 2016 with her Associate Degree in HIT. She later obtained her Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Hartford. When entering the allied health field, Kashanna served in the Health Information Management (HIT) department of a hospital before moving into the cancer registry. Kashanna is passionate about helping others and wants to offer the same support and guidance that she received from her mentors to students and newly credential CTRs.
Cindy Mclendon has been in the field of cancer registry since 2008. She hails from Great Falls, Montana and works in a CoC accredited hospital cancer program. Cindy earned her degree in Cancer Information Management (CIM) and later, her CTR credential. Mentoring is very important to Cindy and she is committed to helping students and potential registrars through the mentoring program. She would have appreciated a mentor when she was studying for her CTR exam and hopes that she can be a resource for others.
Heather Price began her career in the Cancer Registry at Carilion Clinic in Roanoke, VA, which is an American College of Surgeons, Commission (ACoS) Commission on Cancer (CoC) accredited cancer program. After being in the field for 4+ years, Heather earned her credential in 2012 and began working for Registry Partners, Inc. as an abstractor for State Report Only programs. Later, she was appointed to the position of a Project and QC Manager. Heather is a big proponent of education and continuing education as, she believes, they are a huge part of personal and professional growth. Heather is a former Chair of the NCRA Mentoring Committee.
(Maria) Silvia Ramsey is a naturalized US citizen, born in Matanzas, Cuba and raised in Nassau, Bahamas. She has worked in the healthcare field for 15+ years. Silvia is currently the cancer registry coordinator at Beaufort Memorial Hospital in Beaufort, South Carolina. In addition, she serves as the CTR consultant to the Duke University Health System in Raleigh, North Carolina. Silvia has shared her expertise on the application of the Commission on Cancer (CoC) Standards to accredited programs by delivering webinars for NCRA.
Jill Reeves has been with the Callahan Cancer Center in Great Plains, Nebraska since 2008 and earned her CTR in 2013. Jill’s scope of responsibility in a single-registrar facility keeps her days meaningful and interesting. She is responsible for casefinding, abstracting and submissions, follow-up, cancer conferences, and working with physicians and cancer committee coordinators while monitoring the SAR and CoC accreditation standards and compiling needed reports and articles for the annual public reporting of outcomes. Jill is an active member of Tumor Registrars Association of Nebraska (TRAN) and appreciates how important mentoring is to someone who is entering the cancer registry field.
Shirley Jordan Seay, PhD, MSN, MeD, CTR, Past NCRA President
Dr. Shirley Jordan Seay is the CIM Program Director at SBCC, Adjunct Faculty at Cuyahoga Community College and a Trained Independent Cancer Program Consultant. In addition to being a CTR, she has a background as an oncology nurse with experience as a cancer program administrator, educator, and cancer program coordinator. Shirley is involved extensively in her community providing education on cancer related topics including, prevention, screening, early detection and treatment. She is active in providing HPV and HIV/AIDS education, as well. She became a mentor because she believes mentoring is important to ensure there are qualified, competent registrars in the future. Dr. Jordan Seay served on the Data Collection Core for the AJCC 8th edition staging manual and is a former NCRA president.
Nancy has been in the field of cancer registry for over 30 years. She is currently the Coordinator for Affinity Health Systems cancer registries. She has been an active member of the Wisconsin Cancer Registrars Association serving as treasurer, Secretary and president. Nancy is motivated to facilitate learning and growth within her chosen field and finds mentoring in the NCRA program to be a great vehicle to do that. She is passionate about sharing knowledge that she has acquired to help others be successful in achieving their goals in the field. Nancy has expert knowledge of all areas of registry operations and management.
Beth Verrette has been a cancer registrar since 2011. She gained experience working in a hospital registry when she began her cancer registry career. She later took a position with Registry Partners and is currently the Staffing and Project Implementation Director. Beth holds a Bachelors’ degree in Health Information Management (HIM) and has earned the RHIA credential, in addition to the CTR.
Coyle Wood is the New York State Cancer Registry field representative for the physician reporting team. In this role, Coyle performs outreach to new and existing physician practices for cancer reporting and performs weekly case reviews and feedback. Coyle received her bachelor’s degree in biology from Springfield College in Massachusetts and an RN from Albany Memorial School of Nursing. Coyle is on the Board of Directors for the New York Cancer Registrar’s Association (NYCRA). She strongly believes in mentoring programs and is excited to “pay it forward” and help others in this incredible and rewarding career!
Mindy Young is a seasoned CTR with experience in many aspects of the allied health profession. She has served in CoC accredited hospital cancer programs and with the Illinois State Cancer Registry. Mindy has demonstrated proficiency in clinical research, epidemiology, oncology data and the cancer registry. She is currently a CTR with the Dana Farber Cancer Institute. Mindy is active with NCRA and her state organization, Cancer Registrars of Illinois (CRI-IL). She believes mentoring is vital to the future of the cancer registry profession and that registrars have a responsibility to give back and teach new registrars.
Paulette Zinkann, CTR, Past NCRA President, NCRA Formal Education Committee
Paulette Zinkann is the Cancer Registry Management (CRM) Program Director and Instructor for the NCRA accredited CRM degree and certificate programs at Andrew College in Cuthbert, Georgia. Paulette’s experience includes managing a Commission on Cancer (CoC) accredited cancer program in a hospital facility and serving on the Advisory Committee for the Cancer Registry Management Program at Darton College. Paulette is an NCRA Past President and previously served as NCRA Board Director for Education. She currently serves on the NCRA Formal Education Committee.
Cancer registrars are data information specialists that capture a complete history, diagnosis, treatment, and health status for every cancer patient in the U.S. The curated data provides essential information to researchers, healthcare providers, and public health officials to better monitor and advance cancer treatments, conduct research, and improve cancer prevention and screening programs. Learn more about how to become a cancer registrar and how cancer registry data is used to improve public health.
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