Yvonne Diaz

Yvonne Diaz’s diagnosis of incurable stage IV, ALK-positive lung cancer in August 2021 prompted her involvement in patient advocacy and cancer research. Prior to this, Yvonne was heading up communications and social media for a global professional services organisation in London and was a healthy, busy mother of twin teenage sons.

The low level of research funding in lung cancer and the need for more awareness and advocacy inspired Yvonne to become involved with a few organisations. She is the current Chair of ALK+ International and a Member of the Board of ALK Positive Inc. These two charities, the former registered in the UK and the latter in the US, are focused on funding research and advocacy to improve the life expectancies for people living with ALK-positive cancers. Yvonne is also an active member of Lung Cancer Europe and works with other groups to increase more awareness around key issues like biomarker testing, quality of life, research, among others.

Yvonne’s advocacy interests are in the areas of clinical research, fast-tracking innovation, ensuring patient voices are heard and included as an equal voice and partner in research, and finally, collaborating with the research, medical and patient community to improve outcomes for those of us with cancer.