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About Us
The following group of professionals volunteer their time and expertise in order
to carry out the mission of the Cancer Coping Center.
Executive Director & Co-Founder
Dr. Maryam Davodi Far
Maryam completed her doctoral work at the University of La Verne
with an emphasis in health care administration. She has a Master's
degree in healthcare administration and a Bachelors degree in Anthropology
from the University of California in San Diego. She holds a certificate
in Non-Profit Management from Chapman University. She is trained
as a volunteer mediator through the San Diego Mediation Center and
holds a Residential Care Facility for the Elderly California License.
She has served as a chief executive officer for a community clinic
in San Diego. Her professional experiences include providing leadership
in managing diverse programs and services, collaborating with other
nonprofit and for profit agencies, community organizations, businesses
and private citizens.
Maryam's values and characteristics, include a strong intellect,
integrity, creativity and personal energy to effectively engage
staff and motivate those with whom she comes in contact. She possesses
the ability to identify issues and opportunities and can develop
alternative methods in order to achieve consensus. She has a passion
for vulnerable populations and is constantly strategizing about
better ways to meet the needs of targeted groups. To read more about
her accomplishments, please visit her personal website: www.activepatients.com.
Board Chair
Dr. Mira Zivkovic
Mira is an experienced healthcare professional in the field of
public health, health education and health care administration.
She worked for more then 25 years in an academic setting conducting
research and teaching public health to medical students and graduates
at the Belgrade Medical School where she held a position of Professor
Emeritus. She has an MD, an MS in healthcare administration, and
a PhD in public health, all from the University of Belgrade, Yugoslavia.
She also worked in the healthcare field in the U.S. for five years,
including Children's Hospital and Health Center in San Diego. At
the present, Mira holds an Adjunct Faculty position at National
University, where she teaches in a healthcare-administration graduate
program, and at Grossmont College, where she teaches a course in
communication for health care professionals.
Chief Financial Officer & Co-Founder
David J. Wu, MBA, JD
David's career spans life science, business and law. Early
in his career as a researcher, David held several positions at the
University of California at San Diego, and at Berkeley and later
at The Scripps Research Institute. His research efforts in cancer
biology led to the identification of P16, a tumor suppressor gene
on chromosome 9, which is involved in the disease pathway of various
cancers. Following his work as a research scientist for a public
biotechnology company, David worked as the deal flow manager and
venture analyst for a venture capital fund. He served as
corporate counsel to a San Diego biotechnology company. Later, David
was invited to join a fortune 500 company to help commercialize new technologies. He continues
to help build new businesses for this fortune 500 company.
David holds a JD from California Western School of Law, and an MBA from San Diego
State University. He earned a B.A. in molecular biology from the
University of California at San Diego. David has authored and co-authored
several publications in leading scientific journals.
Board Secretary
Carrie Ash
Carrie earned a BS in biology from San Diego State. While a student, her extracurricular activities included working as an editor for the campus newspaper, founding a campus organization for married students called the MRS. Club (Married R uS), and serving as treasurer and president for Alpha Epsilon Delta, a premedical honor society. Carrie and her husband spent a year in Philadelphia, where Carrie was employed as an executive assistant at the office of a Christian mutual fund. Residing once again in San Diego, Carrie applied to medical school in 2003. She is thankful for unanswered prayers, however, as she finds herself a mother of four little children within the last four years. Carrie occasionally does freelance editing.
Director of Community Relations
Nikki Grue
Nikki received her BA in Mass Communications from Sonoma State University and her minor in Creative Industries from Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane, Australia. Nikki once worked in public relations for the American Cancer Society. Enjoying the spirited environment and all of the rewarding experiences of working with a non-profit organization, Nikki looked for a smaller non-profit that focused on helping those with cancer in San Diego. She found San Diego’s Cancer Coping Center and has been working with the organization to coordinate volunteer schedules as well as plan and execute various events and fundraisers.
Cancer Coping Center
e-mail: maryam@cancercopingcenter.com
Phone: (619) 709-8112 | San Diego, CA
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