Leadership Team
Wendy K.D. Selig
President and CEOWendy K.D. Selig is president and CEO of the Melanoma Research Alliance (MRA), a public charity focused on finding and funding the most promising melanoma research worldwide that will accelerate progress toward a cure. Selig drives and manages MRA's strategic priorities, research portfolio, and day-to-day operations. Under her leadership, the MRA is accelerating progress toward a cure for melanoma by supporting an international, cross-disciplinary group of biomedical researchers exploring, identifying, and pursuing innovative, transformative research. Founded by Debra and Leon Black in 2007 and established under the auspices of the Milken Institute, MRA has provided millions of dollars for cutting-edge research in the areas of melanoma prevention, diagnosis, and treatment.
Prior to joining the MRA, Selig spent nearly a decade in leadership positions at the American Cancer Society (the Society) and its advocacy affiliate, the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN). Most recently, she served as ACS CAN's vice president of external affairs & strategic alliances, where she built strategic partnerships with corporations, foundations, trade associations, and federal agencies. She oversaw the Society's campaign to ensure access to quality healthcare and chaired United for Medical Research a coalition of patient advocacy groups, universities, and business interests focused on sustained federal support for biomedical research funding at the NIH. She also provided leadership for One Voice Against Cancer, a coalition of more than 40 groups collaborating to secure enhanced federal funding for cancer programs. In 2008, Selig was appointed to serve on the National Cancer Institute Director's Consumer Liaison Group.
Selig's work with the Society and ACS CAN began in 2000, when she served first as as managing director, federal government relations and later vice president for legislative affairs. From 1989-2000, Selig served on Capitol Hill as a top aide for U.S. Representative Porter J. Goss (R-FL), the House Rules Committee, and the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.
A native of Princeton, NJ, Selig is a magna cum laude graduate of Princeton University and holds a Master in Science (with distinction) from Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism.
Suzanne Topalian, M.D.
Chief Science Officer
Professor, Surgery and Oncology
Director, Melanoma Program, Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center
Johns Hopkins University
Topalian is a physician-scientist credentialed in general surgery, with specialty training in surgical oncology and cancer immunology. After a 21-year tenure in the surgery branch of the National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, she joined the Johns Hopkins faculty in June 2006 to lead the newly-established melanoma program in the Kimmel Cancer Center. She has published more than 100 original research articles and reviews on cancer immunology and is internationally recognized for this work. Topalian's basic studies of human anti-tumor immune responses have provided a foundation for the translational development of immunotherapies for melanoma and other cancers, including cancer vaccines, adoptive T cell transfer, and immunomodulatory monoclonal antibodies. She was a member of the American Society of Clinical Oncology's Melanoma Program Committee 2007-2008.
Laura M. Brockway-Lunardi, Ph.D.
Scientific Program Director
Brockway-Lunardi joined MRA in May 2009 with more than 10 years of experience in scientific program management, science policy, and biomedical research. Prior to MRA, she was scientific program manager at the International Life Science Institute North America where she coordinated programs on nutrition and health. From 2004-2008, Brockway-Lunardi was senior science policy analyst at the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology, developing policy recommendations on biomedical research issues including conflicts of interest, scientific publishing, and grant review, as well as contributing to advocacy efforts for federal research funding. She was a Christine Mirzayan Science and Technology Policy Fellow at the Government-University-Industry Research Roundtable of the National Academy of Sciences, contributing to their studies of intellectual property in academic-industry relationships and U.S. science and technology competitiveness. Brockway-Lunardi received her doctorate in Vision Science from the University of Alabama at Birmingham where she was president of the Industry Roundtable, an organization dedicated to fostering a greater awareness of science careers outside academia. She received her bachelor's degree in biology with honors from Florida State University.
Lauren C. Leiman
Development Director
Lauren C. Leiman is development director of the MRA. Leiman joined MRA in 2010 from Millennium Promise Alliance, an organization committed to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals, where she worked as the director of major gifts. Her previous experience includes working in business development and investor relations at Steel Partners, Ltd., an activist hedge fund, and business operations at Tribeca Entertainment, a New York-based film production company. Leiman received her undergraduate degree in communications from the University of Pennsylvania's Annenberg School and a master's degree in public relations and corporate communications from New York University.
Karen Rogers
Communications Manager
Karen Rogers joined MRA as communications manager in 2010. She most recently served as publications manager at the Partnership for Public Service in Washington, DC. Previously, she worked in communications at the Association of Public Health Laboratories and The Health Foundation of Greater Cincinnati. She has communicated health messages to multiple audiences by serving as editor of various print and electronic publications and serving as Web master. Rogers graduated with honors from Xavier University with a Bachelor of Arts in Communication Arts: Public Relations, with minors in history and Spanish. She earned a Master of Arts in Public Communication from American University.
Ilyona Carter
Executive and Projects Assistant
Ilyona R. Carter is the executive and projects assistant for MRA. Carter joined the MRA in early 2010 from the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN), where she worked as an executive assistant. Her previous experience includes working in office management and administration at the Georgetown University Law Center, administrative positions at the Georgetown University Temporary Service, and mortgage loan processing and outreach at A.W. Stephens, Inc., a mortgage brokerage firm.