My Cancer Advisor

Dr. Charles M. Balch is an internationally recognized surgeon and oncologist with over 34 years of clinical and academic experience and a leading authority in melanoma and breast cancer. MyCancerAdvisor.com is the inspired creation of Dr. Balch. His vision is to create the premier website for information about cancer so that visitors will be empowered to better understand and confront this disease. He is currently Professor of Surgery, Oncology and Dermatology at the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions and Deputy Director for Clinical Trials and Outcomes Research for the Johns Hopkins Institute for Clinical and Translational Research. Previously, he had senior leadership roles at UT M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, The City of Hope National Medical Center, the University of Alabama at Birmingham and the American Society of Clinical Oncology. He is author of over 620 publications, including 22 books, and is the Editor-in Chief of the Annals of Surgical Oncology. He has also held leadership roles involving clinical research in cancer cooperative groups, NIH study sections, and in professional organizations. Dr Balch is Editor-in-Chief of Patient Resources publications, including the “Patient Resource Cancer Guide” and the web-based material on our companion website PatientResource.net.

Linette Atwood has more than 25 years of leadership experience in medical publishing. In the early 1980s she co-founded Atwood Publishing, which set the standard in delivering news and information at major medical meetings throughout the United States. Atwood Publishing grew to be the largest company in its field. In the mid-1990s, Linette co-founded and was the Chief Executive Officer of Exhibitor Visibility Worldwide (EVW). Both companies led the way in publishing the latest advancements in treatment and care during national meetings for such prestigious medical organizations as the American Academy of Family Physicians, the American Society of Clinical Oncology and the American Academy of Pediatrics, to name a few. The primary audience for both Atwood Publishing and EVW was doctors and other medical professionals.

Linette’s new company, Patient Resource Publishing, continues the important theme of medical information and education but with a new audience: the patient. As a cancer survivor, Linette has a unique perspective on the many challenges faced by both patients and families when confronting a life-altering disease. Her goal is to set a new standard in medical publishing by equipping patients with comprehensive and disease-specific resources designed to empower and heal.

David G. Bradley is the chairman and owner of several publishing, news and media properties in Washington, D.C. Best known among them are The Atlantic and The National Journal. Before entering media, Mr. Bradley founded and owned two (now public) think tanks The Advisory Board Company and the Corporate Executive Board. With 50,000 applicants each year, the enterprises are the largest employers of young professional talent in the Washington, DC region. Mr. Bradley graduated from Swarthmore College, received an M.B.A.from Harvard Business School, and holds a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center.

Dr. Jon Merril is a physician and co-founder of Astute Technology, serving as the company’s Chief Executive Officer. His career has been devoted to improving the ways physicians and patients learn about health information with emerging technologies. Dr. Merril has pioneered the application of advanced technologies to the field of medicine and the application of advanced web technologies in medicine. He served as the Chief Technology Officer of Health Answers International from 1999-2003. He served as co-founder and CEO of Medical Consumer Media from 1995-1999, an Internet-based health care communications company, and co-founded a virtual reality surgical simulation company that was purchased by Immersion Corporation in 2000.

Dr. Merril received his medical degree from The George Washington University Medical Center, and completed his internship in internal medicine at The Washington Hospital Center. He also completed a three-year fellowship in Computer Medicine at George Washington University and Mass General Hospitals.

MyCancerAdvisor.com is owned by Balch Communications LLC, Patient Resources LLC (Linette Atwood, President), Mr. David Bradley (Chairman of Atlantic Media Publications), and Dr. Jon Merril (CEO and co-founder of Astute Technology).

Our mailing address is:
Balch Communications
c/o Patient Resource Publishing
440 W. 62nd Street
Kansas City, MO 64113

Our Washington DC address is:
The Watergate
600 New Hampshire NW, Suite 800
Washington DC 20037