I have been a nurse for 17 years and I have been in the medical field for 20 years! I dabbled in research off and on throughout the years and always found it very interesting for multiple reasons. When I was 8 years old my sister was diagnosed with acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL). Over the next five years of our lives we lived on and off in the Ronald McDonald house near Birmingham Children’s Hospital. I made some very good friends and lost some as well! I watched my sister get bone marrow aspirations, spinal taps, and chemo. I remember them taking to me about what it meant to be a bone marrow donor because I was a perfect match for her. Yay! Right? Not so much in the mind of an 8 year old! Luckily we never had to cross that bridge! I will to this day donate bone marrow to anyone who needs it! My sister’s doctors spoke to my mom about a new chemo drug that was still in the “experimental phase”! Being a parent now myself I understand the risk you take to save the life of your child, but at a young age I didn’t understand and was sure my sister was going to turn green or become even weirder then she already was! Fast forward to the present and my sister is alive and well and was even able to have a child of her own which was a side effect of the experimental drug! She beat all odds. During that time I decided I wanted to be a nurse! Over the years I worked with Physicians that did a study or two here and there and was always interested. In 2005 I accepted a full time position as a Coordinator for a dedicated research center. I loved it, this was it! I could not imagine ever going back to the hospital setting ever again! I also could not imagine that two years later I would have the greatest opportunity of all and that was to join into a partnership and open up our very own dedicated research center. In 2007 my business partner and I started our company in a very tiny hallway of the physician that was interested in being our PI. We had our first study and both of us were ready for this exciting yet trying adventure in our life! In 2010 my sister was diagnosed with breast cancer. Yes, the same sister that had ALL when she was 12! I was even more determined at this point to grow in this industry! In 2012 I got certified with ACRP and attendant the ACRP conference in Orlando. The connections we made were remarkable and have opened the doors to new areas for us! Since 2007 we have grown our little company to having seven, PI’s/Sub-I’s this allowing us to take on more trials in several different therapeutic areas. I love research, I love being a part of something bigger, something better! To be able to provide patients, families, parents, spouses options that are not available yet to help them or their loved ones! The possibilities are endless if we all keep fighting for a cure! My sister has survived two types of cancer! I sleep better at night knowing that I am helping to find cures or treatments that are not yet available!