Modeling Hope: From Patient to Scientist Ellen Swanson on QSP, Breast Cancer, and Hope Through Science

Hi, my name is Ellen Swanson and I am a QSP Senior Scientist at Certara.

My life currently revolves around my children who are 7 and 11 years old. Most of my free time is spent shuttling them around and supporting them as they do what they love which means many hours at the baseball field or dance practices. Though we also make it a priority to go on family adventures which up to this point have primarily been focused on exploring Europe. Personally, I feel calmest and strongest when I am outside enjoying fresh air and prioritize going for a run or walk every day.

While most of the time we feel like we have the chaos under control, that has not always been the case.

Almost 7 years ago, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. This came as a complete shock as I was young, healthy, and had no family history. My initial thoughts were how is this going to impact my kids? There was fear of how will my kids react to me losing my hair and not having my typical energy to interact with them. And then the fear got bigger, would I be here to see them grow, support them as they tackled the challenges of life, wipe their tears through heartbreaks, and cheer them on as they accomplished life’s milestones?

The way I mitigated that fear was by focusing on the hope for the new treatments that were being developed. One of the treatments I received was Herceptin due to an overabundance of the HER2 biomarker.

If I had been diagnosed 20 years earlier, this cancer would have been a death sentence. However, thanks to this revolutionary monoclonal antibody we have been able to return to a fairly normal life. I have hope for even better treatments in the future.

I sought out advocacy opportunities to turn this traumatic experience into something meaningful. As a participant in the Living Beyond Breast Cancer Young Advocates program I became aware of the vast number of ways that patients can get involved with advocacy through research, policy and patient support. After attending the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, I realized I had a special set of skills that would be beneficial – my math modeling skills.

I decided to transition my career so that I could focus on QSP modeling and provide hope for future patient populations by aiding in drug development. Developing a model is rarely straight forward but in those moments of frustration and confusion, I think of the patient sitting in the doctor’s office receiving devastating news, like I was almost 7 years ago.

That patient is my motivation to continue developing the model because that drug may be the one that increases the quality and quantity of life for them. Just increasing the length of life is not good enough. Just being isn’t enough. I want to be part an active, engaged part of my kids’ lives and I want that for others too.

Thank you for dedicating your career to helping people like me. Together we are providing hope to current and future patients. Hope for a new treatment with increased efficacy and fewer side effects. Hope for more quality experiences and adventures with those we love the most.