Ask the Expert: Finding Support in the Adolescent and Young Adult Community

Dr. Nelson is an Associate Professor of Dermatology with the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, where she leads the Early Melanoma Detection research team. Her research seeks to reduce melanoma diagnostic disparities in areas of Texas with no dermatologists and combines geospatial imaging, educational theory approaches and image annotation to support machine learning diagnosis. She also serves as the Associate Medical Director of the Melanoma and Skin clinic at MD Anderson. 

Jenn lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. At age 28, she was originally diagnosed with stage 3 melanoma and after a year of adjuvant immunotherapy treatment, she had a recurrence which put her at stage 4. She then went on the combination of Yervoy & Opdivo for another year. At the end of that second year of infusions, she had surgery to remove the last stubborn tumor and she’s been NED for almost 7 years. 

During the early days right after her diagnosis, she came across the MRF’s website and patient forum. That's where she found a community that truly helped her understand melanoma and made her feel a lot less alone. She’s continued to share her story as often as possible in the hopes that it will help other young adults understand the importance of skin checks, advocating for their health, and that being young does not exclude them from a diagnosis like melanoma.