HOST: Hildy Grossman CO-HOST, Jordan Rich
Guests: Sachi Badola and Lauren Coye

Think you’re too young for lung cancer? Think again! This week, we’re joined by
two incredible young women who are highlighting the realities and breaking the
stigma. Our first guest, Lauren Coye, shares her grueling journey to finally being
diagnosed with lung cancer. After being told she had recurring upper respiratory
infections, starting at age 14, Lauren’s persistence led to the discovery 10 years
later that saved her life. Her story is a testament to the life-saving power of self-
advocacy. Our next guest, Sachi Badola, is a pre-med student at Dartmouth
College in New Hampshire. On top of that, she is taking over the reins to become
the producer of Upstage Lung Cancer’s 10th annual Sing Out! concert on April
4, 2026. Bringing together eight a cappella groups to sing out about lung cancer,
the concert will also be live-streamed and afterwards be available on YouTube
and on our website. Both young women continue to raise awareness of lung
cancer as Board Members of Upstage Lung Cancer. From the doctor’s office to the
center stage, we’re exploring how the next generation can raise their voices to
fund research and demand better care. It’s time to listen.

HOST: Hildy Grossman, CO-HOST: Jordan Rich
GUEST: Sumati Ram-Mohan, Vice President of Upstage Lung Cancer

Why did singer and cabaret performer Hildy Grossman launch Upstage Lung Cancer 18
years ago? In this episode, Hildy describes how a fluke accident resulted in early detection of
her lung cancer and put her on a life-changing path. When faced with an early diagnosis, Hildy
didn’t just ask "Why me?"—she asked, "What now?" She realized that while anyone with lungs
can get lung cancer, not everyone has a stage to fight it. Thus, Upstage Lung Cancer was created
as the only lung cancer organization to exclusively produce concerts and the performing arts to
raise awareness, reduce stigma and fund cutting edge medical research.
In a meeting of Art & Science, our guest, Sumati Ram-Mohan, a scientist and dancer, shares her
story of how and why she reached out to Hildy. Now the Vice President of Upstage Lung
Cancer, Sumati discusses how her experience in lung research and her passion for the stage help
move this organization forward. Among other things, this podcast series, now ranked in the top
5 out of 40 lung cancer podcasts, was created to be both engaging, enjoyable and
informative. They discuss almost two decades of outreach and impact, ending with a look ahead
to this year's Fall Concert – an evening of joy aimed at this difficult disease.

We thank our sponsors Lilly, Bristol Meyers Squibb, Revolution Medicines, Boehringer
Ingelheim, and Takeda for their generous support of our podcast series Backstage @ Upstage.

HOST: Hildy Grossman CO-HOST, Jordan Rich

Guests: Justin Gainor, MD, Director of Targeted Immunotherapy at the Massachusetts General Hospital and David Barbie, MD, Director of the Barbie Lab at Dana Farber Cancer Institute Targeting Innate Immunity in Cancer

Lung cancer has long been one of the most complex and difficult cancers to treat. But what if we could outsmart it—not just with surgery, chemotherapy, or radiation, but by training the immune system itself? This episode explores a revolutionary question: Could a vaccine change the future of lung cancer? To shed light on answers to this question are Dr. Justin Gainor, whose interest is in vaccine development, and Dr. David Barbie, who returns to Backstage @ Upstage to explain how the immune system responds to cancer. Our renowned guests describe the challenges of creating a therapeutic vaccine and why a preventative vaccine is less likely to succeed. They detail how the immune system’s delicate operations need to be understood to successfully develop a vaccine to treat lung cancer. Moreover, you’ll want to hear about the groundbreaking promise of “personalized vaccines” tailored to an individual’s unique genomic markers, and how these cutting-edge vaccines will change the future of oncology forever.