Adult Advisory Council
Meet the Members
Barbara Holtz, MEd, MBA
Barbara Holtz was co-editor of Side by Side for two years and often writes articles on patient and family-centered care and survivorship for other publications in addition to those published in Side by Side. Barbara is active on several committees as a patient advocate, including the Patient Safety Communications Initiative; Clinical Genetics/High Risk Operations Team; Legislative Advocacy; Institutional Review Board (IRB), which oversees the safety and welfare of clinical trial subjects; and Dana-Farber Harvard Breast SPORE, a government-funded, nationwide effort to speed leading-edge cancer research to clinical trials.
Barbara has been featured in several educational videos produced at Dana-Farber, including a landmark, award-winning video, "Entering a Clinical Trial: Is It Right for You?" designed to help patients decide whether or not to participate in a clinical trial; and another focusing on whether to donate one's tissue for research. She was also interviewed for a video created by the Lance Armstrong LiveStrong Foundation to highlight coping with cancer and elements of survivor mentality. A member of DFCI's peer counseling "One to One: The Cancer Connection" program, Barbara devotes time to empower other breast cancer patients and give them hope as they progress through treatment. A breast cancer patient treated at DFCI, she was diagnosed with Stage II invasive ductal carcinoma in 2001.
A special-education teacher as well as a marketing and PR professional, Barbara is a versatile writer, editor, interviewer, spokesperson and program manager.
A Boston-area native, Barbara has traveled extensively, living for many years in Tel Aviv and Silicon Valley. She enjoys travel, international friendships, ethnic cooking and music, fly fishing and mentoring high school students.
