Year of birth: 1949

BIOGRAPHY

Mertz is a Patient Advocate serving the Metastatic Breast Cancer community, credited with the establishment of October 13 as National Metastatic Breast Cancer Awareness Day after leading a group of patients to the US Congress in 2009.

Following her diagnosis, she empowered herself by completing courses in breast cancer biology, clinical trials, and quality healthcare offered by the National Breast Cancer Coalition (NBCC).

She serves as a consumer reviewer for the DOD Breast Cancer Research Program, Chair of the Metastatic Breast Cancer Patient Advocate Subcommittee of the Translational Breast Cancer Research Consortium, Chair of the Advocate Advisory Committee for the University of Chicago SPORE, Board Member of the Metastatic Breast Cancer Network, Illinois Field Coordinator for NBCC, and a team member of the Prevention of Metastasis Summit for NBCC’s Breast Cancer Deadline 2020.