This year, during Volunteer Appreciation Week, April 21st-25th, Pheo Para Alliance will recognize volunteers who have provided outstanding service to the pheo para community.
2025 Pheo Para Phenom Award Winners
Peer Support of the Year – Jennefer Marchetti
The Peer Support Award is given to an individual who has fostered connections between patients and those affected, shared knowledge and experience, provided a supportive community, and helped decrease isolation and fear of living with the disease.
Jennefer has been the Chair of the Patient Engagement Committee for the last year and is heavily involved in supporting the PPA community in a variety of ways. She is especially committed to providing peer support to those impacted by pheo para and provide support to the patient-volunteers that provide support to others! Aside from facilitating and co-facilitating Peer Support Meetings, Jennefer is a frequent attendee–bringing warmth, kindness, and a wonderful sense of humor to the meetings. Her positive outlook provides patients and caregivers much-needed encouragement during what can be a very challenging experience. She is dedicated and goes above and beyond.
Fundraisers of the Year – Betsy Herold & Michael Campbell
The Fundraiser Award is given to the person who has raised the most funds for the mission of PPA, and this year, we have two phenomenal people who have done so!
Betsy Herold is a philanthropist and inspires others to give as well. She has been the driving force behind PPA’s annual Gala, paying for the expenses of the entire event for many years. Betsy has also chaired the event for the past few years and is integral in planning the Gala. She also encourages others to donate and fundraise and has been involved with PPA for almost 10 years. During COVID, Betsy also thought “outside of the box” regarding fundraising. Since in-person events were not allowed, Betsy provided a matching gift challenge, where every dollar raised by the PPA community would be matched by her. Most recently, this year, in addition to underwriting the costs of the Gala, she is also matching every dollar donated to JP’s Backyard Challenge, an event hosted by an ultra marathon runner with metastatic disease. Betsy has been integral over the past decade to ensure that PPA has a fundraising strategy and is available to support patients well into the future.
Michael, co-Chaired the Gala last year with Betsy Herold. The Gala took place at the Mark Twain House & Museum, where Michael served as an executive. Michael, having recovered from a traumatic pheo experience a few years prior, was ready to share his story with his community. The Gala was the largest to date, with over 100 attendees, thanks to Michael, his wife Rie, and their many friends and family. Michael was also able to secure an in kind donation of Stanley tools valued at almost $5,000 to raffle off beforehand and at the event. The evening was truly memorable, thanks to Michael. Also, another noteworthy remark, Michael hosted an educational session earlier in the day for pheo para patients to learn about this rare cancer.
Research Ambassador of the Year – Heather Rothwell-Termotto
The Research Ambassador Award is a new award that we have started this year! This award is given to an individual who has supported efforts to move the field of pheo para research forward and share the patient experience through data-driven advocacy in order to influence clinical care and future research.
Heather Rothwell-Termotto is a paraganglioma patient of 15 years and has been affiliated with both the Pheo Para Alliance, the Pheo Para Troopers and the SDHB Pheo Para Coalition. Due to paraganglioma-related experiences, she pursued her own therapy and recognized a new-found purpose in life – to research the mental health impacts of patients. Heather has shared her own pheo para journey for the SDHB Pheo Para Coalition, a partner organization dedicated to supporting research to find answers for those affected by SDHB. She completed her Master’s in Mental Health Counseling at New York University in 2021 and is now a Ph.D candidate in Clinical Psychology at Fairleigh Dickinson University. This year, Heather has launched a survey to assess the quality of life and the mental health impact of patients living with pheochromocytoma and paraganglioma. The survey will help us learn about the psychological experiences associated with diagnosis and health care in the pheochromocytoma/paraganglioma patient population. Heather also serves on the SCOPPE 2.0 committee, a quality of life survey about pheo para patients, which will launch later this year.
Ambassador of the Year – Chad Riding
The Ambassador Award is given to the person who has raised awareness of the illness and struggles of patients through their own platform.
Chad Riding has done so much to raise awareness of pheo para. He is the leader and motivator behind Awareness Week. This year will mark the campaign’s sixth year, but Chad stepped up to the plate as the campaign’s first Chair starting last year. He brings his enthusiastic energy to make the week engaging and knowledgeable for others. Last year, he hosted a webinar that dove deep into an old medical case from the turn of the century written in German which may well have been an undiagnosed pheo!
Chad leads the committee and Awareness Week campaign with enthusiasm and insight to increase awareness about pheo para and to improve the lives of those living with these tumors.
Phriend of the Year – Miranda Edwards aka @pheovsfabulous
The Phriend of the Year Award is the most prestigious award given annually to an individual who has served as an enduring advocate leader for those with pheo para by being a beacon of inspiration for others.
Miranda Edwards has received dozens of nominations from the community, emphasizing how great of an impact she has had. She has been a metastatic pheochromocytoma thriver for over 10 years. Most recently, she has also shared her metastatic thyroid cancer journey as well. Despite these tremendous hurdles, she works tirelessly to advocate for those affected by pheo para and chronic illness. Here are just a few of her contributions:
- Spoke at the Patient Education Day at the SNMMI National Meeting in Toronto in 2024
- Shared her own “phabvocacy” via her blog
- Participated in our Phitness Challenge and encouraged others to do so
- Participated in NET Cancer Day & Pheo Para Awareness Week
- Held an Intagram Live in honor of Awareness Week
- Fundraised online
Miranda is passionate about educating everyone–from her peers to medical professionals–all about pheo and para. She is inspirational, resilient, and fabulous, and because of this, she inspires others to do the same!