Meet Bill Nugent from Northern New Jersey. Bill has been a loyal supporter and friend of the Project Purple running community for a long time. He recently achieved his 6-Star status at the 2024 Boston Marathon, which means he has participated in all six world major marathons: NYC, Chicago, Berlin, London, Tokyo, and now Boston. In this episode, Bill talks about what inspired him to become part of the Project Purple run team. It all started with his mother who battled stage 4 pancreatic cancer. While he lost his mother to the disease, he turned his grief into something incredibly powerful, beco ..read more

Nick Black is the CEO and co-founder of Good United, a non-profit organization that empowers and strengthens non-profits of all causes through social media fundraising. Nick is a veteran himself and co-founded the non-profit Stop Veteran Suicide with his peers to eliminate soldier suicide. As a non-profit leader, he realized the potential of social media fundraising to streamline donations from his non-profit's supporters and was instrumental in developing the first social media fundraising software. Good United has helped raise billions of dollars in fundraising for many non-profits nationwid ..read more

Meet Jewelz and her husband and caretaker, Matt, of Northern California. The couple have four children together and were both feeling optimistic about their future as they entered their 50s. However, they could never have been prepared for Jewelz’s pancreatic cancer diagnosis in 2022. Her stomach pain began in the 90s when she was just a high schooler, persisting into adulthood, but she always convinced herself she was being a hypochondriac about the pain. Nevertheless, the severity of the pain sometimes made it hard to dismiss. Consulting a friend who noticed signs of jaundice prompted her to ..read more

Meet Dr. Ezra Cohen, a medical oncologist and cancer researcher based in San Diego. He is organizing clinical and research studies on various cancers at Tempus. In this episode of the Project Purple Podcast, Ezra explains the scientific reasoning behind different cancers and tumors, and how they respond to treatment methods such as immunotherapy, radiation, and chemotherapy. Additionally, Ezra talks about his groundbreaking artificial intelligence work at Tempus, which aims to make clinical trials more accessible and easier to navigate for patients undergoing cancer treatment. He also discusse ..read more

Meet Dr. Helene Andrews-Polynemis, a scientist and tenured professor at Texas A&M University. Helene's journey in the medical and biology fields took an unexpected turn when she faced a personal battle with pancreatic cancer. In this episode, Helene shares her experience navigating diagnostic tests, revealing a tumor, followed by smaller tumors and abscesses on her pancreas and surrounding organs in late 2019. Amid aggressive chemotherapy cycles, Helene discusses the additional hurdles posed by the pandemic, including her husband waiting in the car during treatments. Tragically, her father ..read more

Christina Grace, a resident of Central Florida, began experiencing discomfort in her midsection towards the end of 2020. Given the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic, she initially hesitated to seek in-person medical care and instead opted for a virtual consultation. Despite following the advice given during her virtual doctor’s visit to take pain relievers, the discomfort persisted for several days. Ultimately, Christina decided it warranted a trip to the emergency room. At the hospital, a series of tests, including a CT scan, revealed a tumor on her pancreas. Subsequently, she was transferred ..read more

Meet Meaghan B. Murphy, a longtime magazine editor, author, and mother of three who lives in New Jersey. In this episode of the Project Purple Podcast, Meaghan talks about her book "Your Fully Charged Life." She explains how she was inspired to write it after watching her father battle pancreatic cancer. Meaghan also shares the many obstacles she has faced in her life and how she has turned her negative experiences into a positive self-help book. The same lessons she shared in her book helped her cope with the loss of her father and pull herself out of a dark time. Meaghan also shares some of ..read more

Meet Charlie, a 38-year-old from the U.K., who was recently diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. This came as a huge shock to Charlie, as she had no health issues and was a lover of sports and all things exercise, even playing in a national league for hockey before becoming ill with pancreatic cancer. She shares her journey with pancreatic cancer by explaining the progression of her symptoms, which started with a loss of appetite and pains in her abdomen. She initially blamed these symptoms on stress but said she grew more concerned about her symptoms when the doctors began questioning her, askin ..read more

Matthew Rosenblum is a social scientist originally from Kentucky who Michigan home. In this episode, Matthew courageously opens up about his extraordinary journey with pancreatic cancer, a battle that began at the young age of 32. Matthew discusses how he relocated to North Carolina amidst the pandemic to support a friend's business when he developed an unusual combination of symptoms. Little did he know that what initially seemed like a consequence of his lifestyle choices or a hangover would lead to a life-altering diagnosis. With a history of Crohn’s disease, Matthew was familiar with gastr ..read more

With 2023 winding down and 2024 coming up over the horizon, Dino, Vin, Sam, and Zach sat down to discuss a record-breaking year for Project Purple. With this having been such a great year and us having so many exciting things in store for 2024, this week's episode provides a look at this year's events from a staff perspective and a peek behind the scenes of Project Purple. To learn more about Project Purple, visit https://www.projectpurple.org/ or follow us on social media at these links: https://www.facebook.com/Run4ProjectPurple https://www.instagram.com/projectpurple/ https://twitter.com/Ru ..read more