Summits Podcast

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 86: Penn State Head Volleyball Coach, Katie Schumacher-Cawley, bump - set - spikes breast cancer

April 15th, 2025  |  18 mins 50 secs

allamerican, beatcancer, breastcancer, cancer, caregiver, cfl, chicago, chicagoland, coach, colts, community, fit4heroes, football, hero, heroes, heroesfoundation, indiana, indianapolis, inspiration, jmu, katiecawley, katieschumachercawley, mikecawley, nationalchampion, natty, nittanylions, pennstate, podcast, prevention, quarterback, research, showursummits, story, summit, summits, summits podcast, summitspodcast, support, survivor, swing4heroes, teamheroes, thrivein25, volleyball, wearepennstate, whyheroes, xfl

In episode 86 of the Summits Podcast, co-hosts Vince Todd, Jr. and Daniel Abdallah are joined by Katie Schumacher-Cawley, head volleyball coach at Penn State University. Amidst a championship volleyball season, Katie was put to the test as she also battled breast cancer. Tune in for the life lessons she’s learned through the experience.

Epi 84: Giving back to the community with Kevin Stewart

January 14th, 2025  |  33 mins 18 secs

aau, banking, baseball, basketball, beatcancer, bestfriend, board, boardofdirectors, business, businessbanking, cancer, caregiver, centierbank, community, director, entrepreneur, foundation, hero, indiana, indianapolis, inspiration, muncie, podcast, prevention, privatebanking, research, showursummits, softball, stage4cancer, story, summit, summits, summits podcast, support, teamheroes, theregion, thrivein25, unitingindianaagainstcancer, whatsurcancerstory, whyheroes, yorktown

In episode 84 of the Summits Podcast, co-hosts Vince Todd, Jr. and Daniel Abdallah are joined by Kevin Stewart of Centier Bank. Tune in as Kevin shares his path in business banking and why he is driven to give back as a director on the Heroes Foundation Board of Directors.

Epi 83: The benefits of cancer clinical trials with Nicole Rule

December 18th, 2024  |  49 mins 21 secs

beatcancer, bigpharma, biomarkers, boardmember, boston, cancer, caregiver, carmel, clinicaltrials, colts, community, elililly, foundation, gbm, glioblastoma, hero, heroesfoundation, indiana, indianapolis, indy, inspiration, iu, lilly, mba, morein24, northeasternuniversity, oncology, pharma, pharmaceutical, podcast, precisionmedicine, prevention, research, showursummits, story, summit, summits, summits podcast, support, thrivein25, unifyingindianaagainstcancer, whatsurcancerstory, whyheroes

In episode 83 of the Summits Podcast, Vince Todd, Jr. is joined by Nicole Rule, Associate Vice President in Oncology Clinical Trial Acceleration at Eli Lilly and Company. Tune in as Nicole shares the benefits of cancer clinical trials and the cancer story that fuels her fight against the disease.

The content and views expressed are my own and do not represent the views of my employer, Eli Lilly and Company.

Epi 80: Living for family and health with Justin Davis

November 12th, 2024  |  40 mins 3 secs

aunt, beatcancer, cancer, caregiver, cars, coldplunge, community, corvette, cycling, development, dogs, family, finances, fitness, ford, getchecked, girldad, grandma, greenfield, hero, heroesfoundation, indiana, indianapolis, inspiration, iuindianapolis, iupui, labs, leafspringschool, morein24, networking, nurse, orthopedic, podcast, prevention, realestate, research, sales, showursummits, story, summit, summits, summits podcast, summitspodcast, superpower, support, teamheroes, uncle, whatsurcancerstory, whyheroes

In episode 80 of the Summits Podcast, co-hosts Vince Todd, Jr. and Daniel Abdallah are joined by Justin Davis, President and Owner of LeafSpring School at Geist. Tune in as Justin shares his focus on family, fitness and giving back as a Team Heroes cyclist and director on the Heroes Foundation Board of Directors.

Epi 79: Igniting change for the cancer community with Teresa Altemeyer

October 30th, 2024  |  44 mins 3 secs

art, artist, beatcancer, breastcancer, cancer, caregiver, communication, community, completelife, divorce, flowers, gardening, hero, heroesfoundation, indiana, indianapolis, inspiration, iuscc, iusimoncancercenter, lls, lymphoma, morein24, move, prevention, research, showursummits, simonsays, story, summit, summits, summits podcast, summitspodcast, support, supportgroup, whatsurcancerstory, whyheroes

In episode 79 of the Summits Podcast, Vince Todd, Jr. is joined by Teresa Altemeyer, cancer survivor and patient advocate through cancer support groups and art therapy at the CompleteLife Program at IU Health and the IU Simon Cancer Center. Tune in as Teresa shares the incredibly important role that these groups and therapies play for patients, survivors and caregivers.

The Heroes Foundation proudly provides funding to the CompleteLife Program to further our mission to provide meaningful support to cancer patients, education to promote cancer prevention and resources to advance research for a cure.

Epi 78: The joy of therapy dogs with Melanie Claymon

October 2nd, 2024  |  29 mins 19 secs

accounting, arizonastate, beatcancer, brcanegative, breastcancer, cancer, caregiver, community, dogshows, friends, goldenretriever, grandviewlake, her2positive, hero, heroes, heroesfoundation, indiana, indianapolis, influencer, inspiration, invisiblefence, iu, jetski, morein24, pawstoheal, petproducts, peytonmanningchildrens, podcast, rileyhospitalforchildren, showursummits, sister, socialmedia, stlouis, story, summit, summits, summits podcast, summitspodcast, the3retrievers, therapydog, wakesurfing, whatsurcancerstory, whyheroes

In episode 78 of the Summits Podcast, co-hosts Vince Todd, Jr. and Daniel Abdallah are joined by Melanie Claymon, who volunteers with her therapy dogs with Paws & Think at local children’s hospitals, schools, and more. Tune in as Melanie shares how her sister’s breast cancer diagnosis inspired her to give back through her beloved pets.

Follow along for all of Melanie’s adventures with her four golden retrievers on Instagram at @the3retrievers!

Epi 77: The gift of fundraising & philanthropy with Genevieve Shaker, Ph.D.

September 17th, 2024  |  51 mins 36 secs

beatcancer, billgates, cancer, caregiver, community, fundraising, hero, heroesfoundation, indiana, indianapolis, inspiration, iu, leadership, lillyendowment, lillyschoolofphilanthropy, morein24, phd, philanthropy, prevention, professor, research, sharedstory, showursummits, story, summit, summits, summits podcast, summitspodcast, support, teamheroes, teamjoey, themoreyouknow, whatsurcancerstory, whyheroes

What are the trends today in fundraising and philanthropy? How has the Heroes Foundation’s philanthropy efforts changed over the past 24 years? Don’t miss episode 77 of the Summits Podcast with co-hosts Vince Todd, Jr. and Daniel Abdallah, and guest Dr. Genevieve Shaker of the IU Lilly Family School of Philanthropy at Indiana University Indianapolis.