Erika Hanson Brown

Erika’s participation in the RSRT fly-in is a testament to her long-time commitment to advocacy work. Since she was diagnosed with colon cancer, Erika has been a dedicated advocate for patient empowerment, education, and access to innovative technologies.

In January 2002, Erika had an incomplete colonoscopy, meaning that the procedure did not capture the full view of her colon. After she continued to feel sick, she asked her primary care physician to order a second colonoscopy, which discovered a tumor in her colon. Erika underwent surgery to remove the tumor, permanently altering her colon, removing her spleen and many surrounding lymph nodes.

She received 6 months of chemotherapy and began to recover in June of 2003. Erika then began COLONTOWN, a non-profit organization that she coins “the face and the place for colorectal cancer survivorship.” Today, she continues to work as the Founder and CEO of One Cancer Place, which aims to equip patients to make informed, strategic decisions about their treatment early on.

As part of this mission, Erika served as a patient advocate group leader for the RSRT fly-in, where she shared her story with congressional offices and highlighted the importance of innovative treatment options.

With cutting-edge innovations in artificial intelligence and machine learning for diagnosing colon cancer, Erika hopes her story can shed light on the need to make AI-enabled medical imaging technologies accessible and effective for patients.