Mara Ginsberg, Esq

Biography

Mara Ginsberg is a breast cancer survivor and an attorney. She founded To Life! in 1998 and leads the organization as President of the Board and chief advocate for those dealing with breast cancer. To Life!’s programs and services enable people to become well-educated health care consumers and to partner with their physicians and health care providers. Mara lives in Delmar, NY with her husband and two children.

Research Interest

“Unlike the vast majority of breast cancer patients whom the disease takes by surprise, I had plenty of warning:  both my mother and her sister died of it at age 44. When that other shoe dropped with my own diagnosis at age 37, I launched into action.  I researched diligently, interviewed doctors, visited clinics, talked to friends and strangers.  Even so, I found that information about the disease, treatment options, post-treatment problems and ancillary services such as prostheses and wigs was either inadequate or very difficult to find.  I wondered, how do other women do this? Emotionally overwhelmed, weakened by the treatments, isolated by a disease that can be uncomfortable to talk about, how do those women cope? The answer distressed me.  In addition to fighting the disease itself, breast cancer patients must wage another battle of gathering information from diverse sources, trying to sort it out and make sense of it and hoping to find some kindred spirits to share the burden along the way.