Barry was diagnosed in 2012 with stage 3 lung cancer after experiencing swelling in his neck that had repeatedly showed up and disappeared several times. He went to see his primary care doctor and an oncologist. He was told he had 18 months to live in 2012. Barry went to see Dr. Lathan for a second opinion and wound up staying to be treated at Dana-Farber. Barry's treatment included chemotherapy, radiation, and a few clinical trials. In February 2014, he began a trageted gene therapy called immunotherapy. This saved Barry's life. He says this "is when my whole life began to change." Barry has been off treatment since February 2016 and healthy. He previously served as a certified risk manager and has two adult daughters. He is very active in church. Sang in church's choir and other volunteer work with church, prayer partner program, currently a lay servant at church, rides his bike, attends conferences with Dr. Lathan and Dr. Freeman. Barry is incredibly grateful to the entire team at Dana-Farber that he credits with saving his life. Barry had the oppotunity to meet Dr. Gordon Freeman, a researcher at Dana-Farber, who's work helped start the field of immunotherapy. Barry was so touched to meet the man whose work led to the creation of the treatment he is currently on.

Dr. Lathan has been a member of the Thoracic Oncology Program at Dana-Farber since 2005 and was appointed as the first Faculty Director of Cancer Care Equity at Dana-Farber in 2010. He directs a successful Dana-Farber clinical service at Whittier Street Health Center in Boston where he developed a lung cancer screening pilot program with the support of a CVS pharmacy foundation grant. He is also a leading researcher in Dana-Farber’s Population Sciences Center on issues of race and class disparities in cancer care and has published and lectured extensively on this topic. In addition to leading Dana-Farber at St. Elizabeth’s, Dr. Lathan works at Whittier Street Health Center and sees patients in his thoracic oncology practice at Dana-Farber’s Longwood campus. Dana-Farber Cancer Institute provides the latest hematology and medical oncology care to patients at St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center. The partnership between Dana-Farber and St. Elizabeth’s enables patients to receive the benefit of Dana-Farber’s advances in care and research at their local hospital. Dana-Farber teams at St. Elizabeth’s and in Boston collaborate to review cases and develop the optimal treatment plan for patients.