Nearly 29 years since her diagnosis, Browne shares her story – St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital

St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital recently shared a post on LinkedIn:

“Looking back at her teenaged self when she had been recently diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), Emily Browne she says she was the direct beneficiary of the advances St. Jude has made in methotrexate pharmacodynamics and the pursuit to replace cranial radiation with intrathecal therapy.

Now two decades into her career at St. Jude and nearly 29 years since her diagnosis, Browne shares her story in honor of National Cancer Survivors Day.

‘I didn’t know it then, but my journey to St. Jude began September 11, 1995, when I was diagnosed,’ she says. ‘As a 17-year-old, I didn’t know what ‘oncology’ meant, only that my pediatrician was concerned about my lab results and persistent fever.

I found myself in a clinic in my hometown of Birmingham surrounded by children with cancer, oblivious to the fact that I was about to become one of them.’

Fast forward and Browne began in a dream job in a clinic at St. Jude. It was then she began to understand and appreciate the enormous impact that St. Jude researchers like Dr. Ching-Hong Pui and countless others had on advancing the cure rates and improving the quality of life of all children with cancer, including herself.

Over the past 20 years, she has worked in a variety of capacities at Jude – from Leukemia and Lymphoma to nursing, and now the Transition Oncology Program.

As director of the fledgling program, Browne offers her perspective, knowledge and experience to better understand the psychosocial and physical health needs of patients and families as they transition off cancer-directed therapy and for the next few years of early survivorship.

‘It’s been amazing to experience different career paths without ever leaving St. Jude,’ she says, ‘I can’t imagine working anywhere else!’

Today we celebrate Emily Browne and other cancer survivors around the country and inspire those recently diagnosed.”

Source: St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital/LinkedIn

St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, founded in 1962 by Danny Thomas, is a nonprofit institution located in Memphis, Tennessee. Accredited as an NCI cancer center in 1977 and recognized as a comprehensive cancer center in 2008, its primary objective is to advance pediatric cancer cures through research and treatment.

St. Jude is the only NCI-Designated Comprehensive Cancer Center dedicated solely to children. St. Jude integrates specialists and researchers across various disciplines into five collaborative research programs. Additionally, St. Jude aims to make discoveries accessible globally and has developed protocols for pediatric cancer care, tailored for resource-limited settings, to save numerous children’s lives.