Medical Advisory Board

The Promise Fund of Florida operates with an 100% voluntary Medical Advisory Board, meaning no individual serving on our board receives any compensation and has no financial interest in our organization.

  • Georges Benjamin, M.D.

    Georges C. Benjamin is an American public health official who has served as Executive Director of the American Public Health Association since 2002, and previously as Secretary of the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene in the Cabinet of Governor Parris Glendening from 1999 to 2002.

  • Otis Brawley, M.D.

    Dr. Otis Brawley is a Bloomberg Distinguished Professor at Johns Hopkins University. He served as Chief Medical and Scientific Officer for the American Cancer Society.

  • Haywood Brown, M.D.

    Dr. Brown is Vice President for Diversity, Inclusion & Equal Opportunity and Title IX Administrator with the University of South Florida System.

  • Raquel Dardik, M.D.

    Dr. Raquel Dardik is an obstetrician-gynecologist in West Palm Beach, Florida and is affiliated with NYU Langone Health. She did her Obstetrics & Gynecology residency at John Hopkins Hospital, 2000. She received her medical degree from Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and has been in practice for more than 20 years.

  • Harold Freeman, M.D.

    Dr. Harold Freeman pioneered the concept of patient navigation in 1990 in order to eliminate barriers to timely cancer screening diagnosis, treatment and supportive care.

  • Ginger J. Gardner, MD, FACOG

    Dr. Ginger Gardner is an associate member of the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and an associate professor at Weill Cornell Medical College.

  • Joannie Ivory, M.D.

    Dr. Ivory specializes in the treatment of patients with breast cancer with an emphasis on partnering with patients in shared decision making. Her practice is currently located at UNC Main Hospital and Hillsborough locations. Her research interests include addressing factors which contribute to disparities in cancer mortality and devising innovative strategies to optimize clinical trial participation.

  • Deeptee Jain, M.D.

    Dr. Deeptee Jain is a minimally-invasive spine surgeon and researcher, Assistant Professor of Orthopedic and Neurologic Surgery, media contributor and speaker, and healthcare tech and policy advisor.

  • Jane Mendez, M.D., FACS

    Jane E. Mendez, M.D., FACS is a Breast surgical oncologist and chief of breast surgery at Miami Cancer Institute, a part of Baptist Health South Florida.

  • Donna Shalala, Ph.D.

    Donna Shalala, American educator, administrator, and public official who was secretary of health and human services (1993–2001) under U.S. Pres. Bill Clinton and who later served in the U.S. House of Representatives (2019–21).

  • Lillie D Shockney, RN., BS., MAS, HON-ONN-CG

    Lillie D. Shockney served as administrative director of breast center from 1997 to November 2018 and director of cancer survivorship programs from 2011 to November 2018, at which time she retired from her hospital leadership roles. She continues to serve on the faculty in the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and also as the co-developer of Work Stride - Managing Cancer at Work.