Summits Podcast

Epi 96: Elevating Change for Pediatric Cancer with Dr. Robyn Spoon

November 4th, 2025  |  53 mins 24 secs

advocacy, asburyuniversity, beatcancer, cancer, caregiver, childhoodcancer, cincinnatichildrens, community, connector, education, elevate, emotionintoaction, fcancer, foundation, hero, heroes, indiana, indianapolis, inspiration, iowa, iu, kentucky, phd, prevention, research, rhabdomyosarcoma, rileyhospital, showursummits, son, story, summit, summits, summits podcast, summitspodcast, support, teamheroes, teamjoey, thrivein25, unitinginagainstcancer, whatsurcancerstory

In episode 96 of the Summits Podcast, co-hosts Vince Todd, Jr. and Daniel Abdallah are joined by Dr. Robyn Spoon, CEO of Elevate Childhood Cancer Research and Advocacy. Tune in as Robyn shares her son’s cancer story that ignited a passion for change and how Elevate Childhood Cancer Research and Advocacy is moving the needle on precision medicine for those diagnosed with childhood cancer.

Learn more about Elevate Childhood Cancer Research and Advocacy at elevatechildhoodcancer.org.

The Heroes Foundation Team JOEY Program proudly sponsored the 2nd Annual Indiana Pediatric Sarcoma Research & Advocacy Summit. Together, we will continue uniting Indiana against cancer.

Epi 95: Persevering through Breast Cancer with Jasmine Gonzalvo

October 24th, 2025  |  31 mins 33 secs

airforce, beatcancer, boilerup, brat, breastcancer, butleruniversity, cancer, caregiver, community, doctor, fcancer, hero, heroesfoundation, indiana, indianapolis, indy, inspiration, invasivebreastcancer, mammogram, many hats, mastectomy, pandemic, pharmacist, pharmacy, prevention, professor, purdue, radiation, research, showursummits, stage2, story, summit, summits, summits podcast, summitspodcast, support, teamheroes, thrivein25, whatsurcancerstory, whyheroes

In episode 95 of the Summits Podcast, co-hosts Vince Todd, Jr. and Daniel Abdallah are joined by Jasmine Gonzalvo, Clinical Professor of Pharmacy Practice at Purdue University College of Pharmacy and breast cancer survivor. Tune in as Jasmine shares her breast cancer journey and the priorities she has now in survivorship. “Cancer gave me the slap in the face that I needed to be present for the right reasons.”

Epi 94: Overcoming Obstacles with Will DesJean

October 1st, 2025  |  31 mins 9 secs

12, amputee, beatcancer, bonecancer, brokenleg, cancer, caregiver, chemo, chemotherapy, chickfila, childrenscancer, community, fcancer, franklincentral, friendships, hero, heroesfoundation, indiana, indianapolis, indy, inspiration, itgetsbetter, iu, lambo, lookatthepositives, middledistance, notredame, oncology, osteosarcoma, pediatriccancer, prevention, research, showursummits, southbound, story, summit, summits, summits podcast, summitspodcast, support, surgery, swimming, thrivein25, unitinginagainstcancer, whyheroes

In episode 94 of the Summits Podcast, co-hosts Vince Todd, Jr. and Daniel Abdallah are joined by osteosarcoma survivor Will DesJean. Tune in as Will shares his cancer story, the setback he experienced this past year, and how he’s getting back to what he loves most – friends, fun, and most of all – swimming.

For more of Will’s story, tune in to episode 32 with his parents, Chris and Stacy DesJean: https://youtu.be/400NoR1ogVM

Epi 93: Pediatric Cancer Research with IU School of Medicine’s Dr. Nur Damayanti

September 9th, 2025  |  58 mins 47 secs

apxa, bali, beatcancer, braincancer, cancer, cancertreatment, caregiver, community, funding, hero, heroesfoundation, indiana, indianacancercommunity, indianapolis, indonesia, inspiration, japan, lab, masters, oncologyresearch, pediatriccancer, pediatriccancerawareness, pediatriccancerawarenessmonth, pediatriconcology, phd, podcast, prevention, purdue, quantumchemistry, rarecancer, research, showursummits, story, summit, summits, summits podcast, summitspodcast, support, taiwan, tumor, unitinginagainstcancer, whatsurcancerstory, whyheroes

In episode 93 of the Summits Podcast, co-hosts Vince Todd, Jr. and Daniel Abdallah are joined by Dr. Nur Damayanti, cancer researcher at IU School of Medicine. Tune in as Dr. Damayanti shares the personal cancer diagnosis that changed the trajectory of her career and the Heroes Foundation funding that is supporting her project to study new treatment methods for children with rare brain cancers.

Learn more about recent Heroes Foundation gifts: https://www.heroesfoundation.org/the-heroes-foundation-has-awarded-nine-exciting-indiana-cancer-projects-with-223500-in-funding/

Epi 92: Providing basic needs to Indiana cancer patients with Joyce Irwin

August 20th, 2025  |  41 mins 30 secs

basketball, beatcancer, brca, breastcancer, cancer, caregiver, chemo, community, communityhealth, education, egypt, elevancehealth, fcancer, foundation, galleritest, genetictesting, getuncomfortable, hero, heroes, hoosier, hoosierheritage, indiana, indianapolis, indianauniversity, indy, inspiration, iu, lilly, mastectomy, mdanderson, networking, pancreaticcancer, podcast, roche, sagamoreofthewabash, seymour, showursummits, stage2, story, summit, summits, summits podcast, surgery, terimoren, thrive, thrivein25, torchbearer, travel, unitingindianaagainstcancer, whatsurcancerstory, whyheroes

In episode 92 of the Summits Podcast, co-hosts Vince Todd, Jr. and Daniel Abdallah are joined by Joyce Irwin, President/CEO of the Community Health Network Foundation. Tune in as Joyce shares the genetic testing that led to her double mastectomy, her pancreatic cancer diagnosis, and how she’s giving back through her work at the Community Health Network Foundation.

Epi 91: Volunteerism and raising the next generation of cancer fighters with Lori Wheeler

July 29th, 2025  |  30 mins 36 secs

austria, baseball, beatcancer, bishopchatard, cancer, caregiver, clinicaltrials, coach, coloncancer, community, dad, europe, fcancer, foundation, friend, germany, helpourselvesbyhelpingothers, hero, heroes, ihm, immaculateheart, indiana, indianapolis, industrious, inspiration, iu, nashville, neighbor, nephews, newpal, podcast, prevention, principal, purdue, reddevils, research, richmond, sales, showursummits, southernglasers, stage4, story, summit, summits, summits podcast, support, unitingindianaagainstcancer, volunteer, volunteerism, whatsurcancerstory

In episode 91 of the Summits Podcast, co-hosts Vince Todd, Jr. and Daniel Abdallah are joined by long-time Heroes Foundation volunteer Lori Wheeler. Tune in as Lori shares the cancer stories that have shaped her family and how she is raising her children to make a difference in their communities.

Epi 90: Men’s mental health with @buildingarefuge and Brandon Leum

July 9th, 2025  |  40 mins 33 secs

avon, baldhead, barndominium, beatcancer, brother, buildingarefuge, cancer, caregiver, community, dairy, emotionintoaction, fcancer, fishers, foundation, golf, harleydavidson, hero, heroes, hoosier, indiana, indianapolis, inspiration, itsoktonotbeok, iu, kohler, lacrosse, listeningskills, lungcancer, mensmentalhealth, mentalhealth, newglarus, norwegian, patience, podcast, prevention, research, saladbar, sandvalley, showursummits, spottedcow, story, suicide, summit, summits, summits podcast, supperclub, support, swing4heroes, teamheroes, thebarpodcast, unitingindianaagainstcancer, vincennes, walleye, wisconsin

In episode 90 of the Summits Podcast, co-hosts Vince Todd, Jr. and Daniel Abdallah are joined by Brandon Leum, Founder of @buildingarefuge. Tune in as Brandon shares the organization’s mission to bring hope and encouragement to men through meetings, events, and the BAR Podcast.

You can connect with Building a Refuge at buildingarefuge.org.

Epi 89: Connor Whaley Pays It Forward to the Indiana Cancer Community

June 24th, 2025  |  22 mins 19 secs

cancer, caregiver, community, hero, indiana, indianapolis, inspiration, story, summit, summits, summits podcast

In episode 89 of the Summits Podcast, co-hosts Vince Todd, Jr. and Daniel Abdallah are joined by Connor Whaley, a North Central High School graduate and Indiana University Bloomington student. Tune in as Connor shares his aplastic anemia story, how the experience shaped him, and how he’s giving back as Director of Riley Development with @IUDMFTK.

Epi 88: Staying Fit, Fighting Cancer and Giving Back with Joe Fazzini

May 29th, 2025  |  46 mins 14 secs

a/r, beatcancer, business development, cancer, caregiver, carmel, carmelmarathon, chicago, chicagoheights, chriscarr, coach, collections, community, diamondlake, duanejohnson, endurance, eveningwithheroes, fit4heroes, grandpa, hero, heroesfoundation, indiana, indianapolis, inspiration, ironman, italy, iu, lafayette, lancearmstrong, lupron, motioncycling, notredame, podcast, pointbreak, pope, prevention, prostatecancer, psa, purdue, reliantcapital, research, salliemae, showursummits, sjpcancerresearchfund, story, subaru, summit, summits, summits podcast, support, survivor, swing4heroes, teamheroes, teamjoey, the rock, thrivein25, triathlon, usatriathlon, whitesox

In episode 88 of the Summits Podcast, co-hosts Vince Todd, Jr. and Daniel Abdallah are joined by Joe Fazzini, a Carmel, Indiana based triathlon athlete and coach. Tune in as Joe shares his prostate cancer survivorship journey, how fitness inspires him, and his plan to give back to the Indiana cancer community.

Follow Joe on Instagram at @diamond-lake-sports as he participates in the 2024 Subaru CASA Cycling Challenge with a goal to ride 300 miles in 24 hours to fundraise for the Heroes Foundation!

Contribute to Joe’s fundraising efforts here: https://bit.ly/JoeFDonate

Epi 87: Four Day Ray’s Scott Kennedy on the Team Heroes family

April 29th, 2025  |  30 mins 28 secs

alleghenypassage, beatcancer, beer, bloodorangeblonde, breastcancer, brewing, cancer, caregiver, community, diamonddave, fishers, fit4heroes, fourdayray, frozone, gbm, hero, heroesfoundation, hydepark, indiana, indianaflyer, indianapolis, inspiration, livercancer, mom, motioncycling, nashville, noblesville, podcast, prevention, research, showursummits, spin4heroes, story, summit, summits, summits podcast, summitspodcast, support, swing4heroes, teamheroes, tennessee, thrivein25, tuesdayswithmorrie

In episode 87 of the Summits Podcast, co-hosts Vince Todd, Jr. and Daniel Abdallah are joined by Scott Kennedy, Director of Operations at Four Day Ray Brewing and Team Heroes athlete. Tune in for a peek inside the Indiana-based brewery and how the Team Heroes family supports each other, both on the bike and off.

For more on Four Day Ray Brewing, visit fourdayray.com.