Checkbooks and Balances: How Advocacy Can Support Both Physical and Financial Health

Brad Love works to help people thrive. At the University of Texas at Austin, he serves as University Distinguished Teaching Professor and an associate professor in the Center for Health Communication, where his work largely focuses on improving quality of life for young adults affected by cancer.  In particular, his research focuses on boosting access to mental health, social, and informational support. Love's projects have been supported by MD Anderson Cancer Center, the Livestrong Foundation, and the American Cancer Society, among others.

Amy is responsible for strategic leadership of external facing initiatives of the Patient Access Network (PAN) Foundation.  The PAN Foundation is a national not-for-profit organization that provides financial assistance to people who are underinsured and advocates for improved access to affordable care.  Amy establishes relations and partnerships with the patient advocacy and provider community, always seeking to educate and raise awareness about the availability of patient assistance resources. She is also the visionary leader for PAN’s policy and advocacy programs. As such, Amy keeps an eye on the ever changing legislative and regulatory environment and establishes and executes an enterprise-wise advocacy strategy to drive legislative change.

Before joining the PAN Foundation in 2014, Amy served for eight years as Chair, Medical Relations and Advocacy for the Together Rx Access program, a national program to remove barriers to access to care for people who were uninsured. Prior to that, she was President and CEO of the National Women’s Health Resource Center, now known as HealthyWomen, for more than a decade.  

Amy has a Master of Business Administration degree from Baruch College, City University of New York, and an undergraduate degree in Biology from the University of Rochester.

Chris has worked as a Resource Navigator at Family Reach for over two years, working closely with patients, families, and other care professionals to provide Family Reach's Financial Treatment Program. Chris has a Master of Social Work degree from Boston University School of Social Work, where he graduated in 2020, and is also a licensed social worker in the state of Massachusetts. Chris lives in Brookline, Massachusetts, and is active in community organizing outside of work, particularly as a Steering Committee member of the Boston Liberation Health group, which is a 20+ year old organization composed of social service workers and users dedicated to learning and practicing the Liberation Health model.