#44: Kathy Giusti, Cancer Fighter and Health Care Revolutionary

No Limits with Rebecca Jarvis

ABC News

Business, Careers

4.7 • 703 Ratings

🗓️ 15 August 2017

⏱️ 31 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In 1996, Kathy Giusti was a business executive with a one-year-old daughter at the peak of her career when she was given a death sentence. She was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a rare and fatal cancer, and told she had three years to live. Determined to live long enough so her daughter would remember her, Giusti quit her job and founded the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation (MMRF) with her identical twin sister. More than 20 years later, Giusti is in remission and under her leadership, the MMRF has driven 10 new approved therapies, tripling patient lifespans. And thanks to Giusti, there has been more progress in multiple myeloma than any other cancer in recent history. Giusti also serves as the co-chair of the Harvard Business School Kraft Precision Medicine Accelerator where she is fighting all cancers and changing the world of medicine. Learn more about the MMRF: https://www.themmrf.org/ Follow Kathy on Twitter: @KathyGiusti Follow MMRF on Twitter: @theMMRF Resources Kathy mentioned in 'No Limits' episode: National Institute of Health: Comprehensive Cancer Information: https://www.cancer.gov/ American Society of Clinical Oncology: https://www.asco.org/ American Society of Hematology: http://www.hematology.org/ No Limits Entrepreneur of the week: Daniella Pierson, Founder/CEO The Newsette Learn more about The Newsette: http://thenewsette.com/ Like what we're doing? Leave a review! ----> http://bit.ly/2ks4f90 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit

Transcript

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0:00.0	I was in the height of my career and had just had our daughter.
0:05.0	She was one year old.
0:06.5	And I learned that I had multiple myeloma, which is a blood cancer like leukemia and lymphoma.
0:13.4	And more importantly, I learned that it was 100% fatal, that patients die within three years with multiple myeloma. And that was the death
0:22.5	sentence I was given. From ABC, it's no limits. I'm Rebecca Jarvis, and each week we're talking to
0:30.0	the most influential women playing at the top of their game, trying to demystify success and what it
0:35.8	really takes to get there and all the tradeoffs.
0:38.6	Whether you're looking for answers or you just want to hear a good story, you're in the right place.
0:46.0	On today's episode of No Limits, how one woman turned a death sentence into an opportunity to change the world of medicine and beat the odds.
0:55.9	Kathy Juusty, welcome to No Limits.
0:58.4	Thank you. It's so great to be here.
1:00.1	I'm thrilled to have you here. You have a really fascinating story. You're the founder of the
1:05.3	Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation. Grew up in Bluebell, Pennsylvania. Yes. One of four siblings. Correct. A twin. Identical.
1:15.3	Identical. A real twin, as my husband would say, because you're identical. He's an identical
1:20.4	twin as well. You ended up studying biology. I did. And then you went and your first job,
1:26.3	was it your first job at Merck? Yes. Or one of the early jobs was at Merck. Right out of college, I went to Mark. Right out of college. And then you went and your first job, was it your first job at Merck?
1:28.3	Yes. Or one of the early jobs was at Merck. Right out of college I went to Merck. Right out of
1:31.3	college and what were you doing at Merck? I started in sales. So it's an interesting story where I had
1:37.1	initially been going to medical school. That was my plan. And then spoke to my father about it,
1:43.4	who was a physician and he felt that I would be much
1:46.1	stronger in business.
1:48.0	Why?
	...

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