John Rutledge
Treasurer
John was born and raised in Fort Worth, Texas. He received a bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from Duke University in 1983 and a graduate degree from the University of Texas at Austin in 1985. John has worked at Freese and Nichols in Fort Worth since graduating. He is currently a Principal and Vice-President of the firm. John has four children, a son-in-law and three grandchildren. Along with his wife, Laura, John co-founded the Rutledge Cancer Foundation. He is the father of Carley Rutledge whose inspiring journey as a cancer survivor prompted the formation of the Foundation. Sadly, Carley passed away in 2021 after living with cancer for 11 years.
Cindy McLaughlin
Board Member
Bio coming soon.
Chris Kroeger
Board Member
Chris grew up in Houston, Texas and graduated in 1989 with a BBA and MBA from the University of Texas at Austin. Chris moved to the Dallas-Fort Worth area to start a 25-year career with Sabre, a global travel technology company, where he held various senior sales, general management, and marketing positions, including four years as Chief Marketing Officer. Chris now operates Chris Kroeger Consulting, LLC and is a partner in Social Venture Partners, an organization focused on helping non-profits drive greater impact in their communities. He is also an Adjunct Professor of Marketing at TCU. Chris lives in Keller, Texas with his wife Stacy and his children Sage and Kysen.
Molly Mitchell-King
Board Member
Molly is originally from McAllen, Texas but has called Austin home for the last 40 years. She received her undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Texas. She is currently managing partner in the Austin firm of Almanza, Blackburn, Dickie & Mitchell, LLP, as well as a co-founder of Sellers Shield, LLC.
Molly and her late husband have twins (a son and a daughter). Molly’s other community involvement includes volunteering with CASA of Travis County, Marin County Library and Austin Independent School District.
Elisa Rode
Board Member
Elisa is a Fort Worth native has been with Kearley, a strategic marketing and branding firm for more than 20 years. Over the course of her storied career, she has been the recipient of American Advertising Awards, Credit Union National Association Diamond Awards, Credit Union Executive Society (CUES) Golden Mirror Awards, and Cornerstone Credit Union League Pinnacle Awards. Her success as a creative and as a leader stem from her passion for the growth of the people and organizations she cares deeply about. To put it another way, she’s the best at helping anyone and any business reach their goals. On the weekends, you can find her hiking the local trails, creating new recipes in her kitchen, or teaching her (mostly indifferent) dog, Hank, new tricks.
Grant Rutledge
Board Member
Grant was born and raised in Fort Worth, Texas, and graduated from TCU, with a major in Finance and a minor in accounting. After college, Grant began his career at Lockheed Martin and is currently employed as a financial manager. Carley Rutledge was Grant’s sister, a cancer survivor, and his inspiration to improve the lives teens and young adults with cancer.
Dana Sager
Board Member
Dana grew up in Fort Worth, Texas. She graduated from Texas A&M University in 1976 with a B.S. in Microbiology and later in 1982 with an M.S. in Immunology. She held research technician roles both at Texas A&M and the University of Alaska, Fairbanks before being hired at Alcon Laboratories in 1983. At Alcon she transitioned to Clinical Development within Research and Development. Dana assumed roles of increasing responsibility in her tenure at Alcon, managing ophthalmic human trials for both drugs and devices until 2016 when her role was transitioned to Novartis Pharmaceuticals. Dana has continued her work managing ophthalmic trials at Novartis. She is responsible for trials which supported the filings for several drugs and devices that have been marketed by Alcon and Novartis.
Dana married her husband Jim, also a native of Fort Worth, in 1989 and they raised a son, John and a daughter, Jamie. Both are married and her son and his wife are recent proud parents of a baby boy.
Dana enjoys volunteering in the community through church as well as for other worthwhile causes. She and Jim are lifetime PTA members and are proud of their work in recent years with two local Title 1 schools. She served previously on the Board of the Salvation Army First Choice program for mothers in recovery.
Lisa Williams Sarvadi
Board Member
Lisa grew up in McAllen, Texas. She graduated in 1989 from the University of Texas at Austin with a BBA in Mechanical Engineering Route to Business. She moved to Houston, Texas with her husband John and built a career in the oil and gas industry, working for Koch Industries and Tenneco Gas Marketing. Lisa and her husband John have two sons Ben and George and a daughter, Katherine. In addition to the Rutledge Cancer Foundation, Lisa has served on the boards of Houston Tri Delta Alumnae and Bayou Villages National Charity League. She is currently a volunteer at the Kinkaid School, an active member of Chapelwood United Methodist Church, and a member of the National Charity League and a sustaining member of the Junior League.
Greg Wolford
Board Member
Bio coming soon.
MEDICAL ADVISORY BOARD
Felice Adler-Shohet
Clinical Professor of Pediatrics & Advocate, University of California Irvine
Dr. Felice Adler-Shohet is a Pediatric Infectious Diseases physician in Orange County, California who lost her son, Noah, to Ewing sarcoma in 2021. She has a Hero Fund dedicated to funding Ewing sarcoma research through St. Baldrick’s Foundation and has been involved with developing St. Baldrick’s patient advocacy program. She also works with the The Rutledge Cancer Foundation and the Ewing Sarcoma Cure Coalition to help find and fund treatments for Ewing sarcoma.
Alex Bishop, D.Phil
Professor, Department of Cell Systems and Anatomy, Greehey Children’s Cancer Research Institute
My research focus is on DNA damage response and DNA repair, with a particular interest in Ewing sarcoma, breast cancer and Ataxia telangiectasia looking at cancer, development and aging. Since becoming an independent investigator, I have trained five postdoctoral fellows all of whom remained in science. In fact, since coming to UTH-SA, I have developed a postdoctoral career workshop, am a member of a Departmental committee to promote postdoctoral career advancement and most recently initiated a Departmental Postdoctoral Seminar Series. I am therefore a strong advocate for finding means for postdoctoral fellows to achieve their career goals. I have also been fortunate enough to have recruited several talented graduate students, six have now graduated and all pursued further research careers in either academia or private industry. I am currently training four graduate students. Over the last few years five of my graduate students obtained independent funding (including DoD BRCP program and PCRCP Horizon Award), as did three of my postdocs (including DoD BCRP and AstraZeneca-AACR START).
James Graham, CFA
Founder, Qana Therapeutics
Jim Graham is Director of Investments at RBP Catalyst Fund. Jim has twenty years of experience in life sciences finance, commercialization and entrepreneurship. He started his career in the West Coast office of Alex.Brown and worked at Biogen before moving to the Boston office of McKinsey in the Pharmaceutical and Medical Products practice — serving global pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device clients. More recently, Jim was a principal at Santé Ventures, a life sciences investment firm and an operating partner with a Texas-based family office. Jim earned a B.S. in Biological Sciences with Honors from Stanford University, an S.M. in Biomedical Sciences from the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology (HST) and an MBA from MIT Sloan. He holds the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation. Jim is the parent of a child with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome, a rare epilepsy, and served two terms on the Board of Epilepsy Foundation Texas.
Jason T. Yustein, MD, PhD
Professor in the Department of Pediatrics at Emory University School of Medicine
Dr. Yustein is a pediatric oncologist and physician-scientist at Children’s Hospital of Atlanta. He is a member of the Discovery and Developmental Therapeutics Research Program at Winship. Dr. Yustein earned his MD and his PhD in molecular biology and microbiology from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. He completed his residency in pediatrics and his clinical fellowship in pediatric hematology and oncology at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. Dr. Yustein’s laboratory is dedicated towards understanding mechanisms of metastasis and therapeutic resistance and identifying new treatment avenues for the treatment of sarcomas. His team has a significant amount of experience with integrating novel models with molecular approaches and functional genomic studies geared towards understanding the pathogenesis of pediatric sarcomas.
OUR LEADERSHIP
Laura Rutledge
Executive Director
Laura grew up in McAllen, Texas and graduated from the University of Texas with a BS in Finance. She worked in the Mortgage Business for 8 years. While raising her four children she volunteered in her community and served on the boards of two schools. She currently serves as Rutledge Cancer Foundation’s Executive Director and Board Member. Laura spearheads investigating cutting edge sarcoma research and builds collaborative relationships between the medical, biotech and research communities. She and her husband John have four grown children: Meredith, Blake, Carley and Grant, a son-in-law and three beautiful grandchildren. Tragically, their daughter Carley passed away in 2021, after living with cancer for 11 years.
Adrienne Stephens
Development Director
Adrienne, a Fort Worth native, is a seasoned non-profit professional with over 10 years of experience in donor development, marketing, and special events. After graduating with a Bachelor’s degree in Hospitality Management from The University of Mississippi, she has dedicated her career to impactful work within the nonprofit sector. Outside of work, Adrienne enjoys spending time outdoors with her husband, Watt, and their two young children, Kemble and Locke.
Celia Stibbens
Finance Director
Celia moved to Fort Worth, Texas in 1975 and is a graduate of Tarleton State University with a Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting. She is currently working towards a CPA certification and brings over 20 years of accounting experience with 10 years in public accounting. Celia’s passions include traveling, volunteering at Alliance United Methodist church and spending time with her grandchildren.
Lauren Goodpaster
Business/Systems Manager
Lauren grew up in Sherman, TX, and earned a Bachelor of Science in Psychology with an emphasis in Criminal Justice and a Master of Science in Global E-Learning/Training and Development from Texas A&M University-Commerce. With over 13 years of experience in higher education, she has dedicated her time to career development best practices, advising medical students, and organizing campus events. A certified StrengthsFinder coach, she is passionate about helping individuals identify and leverage their strengths. Recently, she transitioned to the nonprofit sector, where she has enjoyed serving the local community for over a year. Outside of work, Lauren cherishes spending time with her husband, Clinton, and their three sons, Carson, Huxton, and Walker.
Kelly Wooley
Communications Manager
Kelly, a Fort Worth native, has more than 20 years of marketing and communications experience, primarily in the non-profit and healthcare sectors. She’s worked for the American Heart Association, Cook Children’s and the JPS Foundation. She graduated from Trinity University in San Antonio with a degree in Business Marketing. In addition to Kelly’s work history, she has a personal passion for pediatric healthcare and helping patient families. Her 10-year-old daughter, Avery, was born three and half months early and spent 234 days in the NICU at Cook Children’s. Outside of work, she enjoys playing tennis and spending time with family and friends.
Melissa Tapp
Events Manager
Melissa grew up in Fort Worth, Texas and graduated from Texas Christian University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Communications in 1996. Since graduation, she has worked in the nonprofit sector planning events in Central Business Districts as well as private events around the metroplex. Melissa has deep connections in the Fort Worth community and is involved in many charity organizations such as Jewel Charity, CASA of Tarrant County, and the Women’s Health Council. She is a member of Chi Omega, National Charity League and Young Men’s Service League. She has two children Peyton and Michael.