Courtney Horvath shares the perspective of a toxicologist and the parent of a cancer patient.
In her LinkedIn profile, Dr. Courtney Horvath (Regis BA ’06, Dartmouth Ph.D.) lists two titles: “Global Head of Strategy, Planning and Operations, Translational Medicine” at a leading international pharmaceutical company and “Childhood Cancer Advocate.” The first is a culmination to a career that began as a Staff Scientist with Sanofi in 2011. The second began in 2020 when her son Colby, then 8, was diagnosed with cancer. Even with her background in toxicology, Dr. Horvath was unprepared to discover that “Every chemotherapy that Colby was administered was developed and approved for use during the timeframe roughly spanning the Vietnam War.” In March, she shared their family’s story in a TED-x Talk called “Surviving the Cure.” In June, Colby was featured on ABC’s Good Morning America as one of “the godchildren of the Disney Wish,” three kids whose Make-a-Wish dreams came true. Regis Assistant Professor and Nurses’ Station host Lawana Brown spoke with Dr. Horvath about Courtney’s wish for Colby and other young oncology patients and her counsel for nurses and other healthcare professions who work with pediatric patients.
