Derek is a childhood leukemia survivor and was one of the first Jimmy Fund patients treated at age 2. He received spinal taps, bone marrow transplants, and radiation. His cancer cleared in the early 1980s. Years later, Derek was diagnosed with rectal and esophageal cancer. His care team believes the full-body radiation treatment he received as a child in the mid-1970s led to recurrence as an adult. Derek’s treatment includes chemotherapy, radiation, rectal reconstruction, and rehabilitation due to surgical complications. Derek is also diagnosed with cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair. Today, the rectal tumor shows no evidence of disease, and the esophageal tumor has shrunk. Despite challenges, Derek is working to regain independence. Derek is a 1982 graduate of Brookline High School where he kept track of the baseball team’s books and traveled with them to games. His high school classmates included Theo Epstein and Sam Kennedy. Derek is a lifelong fan of the Red Sox and especially loved the 2004 season. At a Red Sox game last summer, Derek threw out the first pitch. Dr. Jackson earned a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the University of Pennsylvania in 1998. She went on to earn both a Master's in Public Health (2002) and medical degree (2003) from Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health and School of Medicine, respectively. She completed residency in internal medicine at Johns Hopkins Hospital in 2006 and fellowship in clinical hematology and oncology at Dana-Farber/Partners CancerCare in 2009. She joined the staff of Dana-Farber and Brigham and Women’s Hospital in 2009 where she is a medical oncologist and clinical investigator. Her research is focused on improving health and treatment outcomes for older patients with cancer.