Press Kit: Board of Directors Representatives

Peter Biagetti, Esq.
Peter Biagetti, a Board Member since 1996, is a lawyer at Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, in Boston, Mr. Biagetti developed a close friendship with Ken Schwartz when they began their careers as trial lawyers in the 1980s. In 2004 and 2005, Mr. Biagetti was recognized as a Massachusetts "Super Lawyer," based on a statewide survey of lawyers voting for peers they had observed in action. Mr. Biagetti concentrates on the prosecution and defense of cases involving unfair business practices, trade secret theft, breach of duty by business owners and officers and business fraud. He is currently a member of Mintz Levin's Policy Committee. He received his BA from Harvard College in 1978 and his JD from Harvard Law School in 1981. As the new Chair of the Schwartz Center, he is passionately committed to furthering Ken's vision through the growth of Schwartz Center Rounds and the development of an initiative that focuses on patients and their families.

Ellen Cohen, MSW
Ellen Cohen was married to Ken Schwartz when he was diagnosed with lung cancer in 1994. After her husband's death, Ms. Cohen worked tirelessly to fulfill her late husband's dream of founding an organization dedicated to strengthening the relationship between patients and caregivers. She shaped the goals and mission of the organization, and her leadership was crucial to the launch of the Schwartz Center and its inaugural dinner in 1996, which drew more than 1,400 guests. She is currently the Board's president. "Though it began as my own grief work," she said, "it quickly became a passion for the need, as Ken said, to rewrite the rules about the relationship between caregivers and patients." Ms. Cohen is currently an education consultant for the Open Circle Program, a social/emotional learning program for young children. She is a graduate of Tufts University where she earned a BA in Child Study and dual masters degrees in Social Work and Public Health from Boston University. Ms. Cohen and her husband, Dr. Daniel Haber, director of the Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, chaired the Schwartz Center's tenth anniversary dinner in 2005.

Andrew Dreyfus
Andrew Dreyfus is the executive vice president of Health Care Services for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts and the former president of the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation. A longtime friend of Ken Schwartz, Mr. Dreyfus was one of the founders of the Schwartz Center and served as chairman of the Center's Board from 1996 to 2006. He is a tireless champion for the Center, helping to steer the organization toward local and national recognition. Prior to joining Blue Cross Blue Shield, Mr. Dreyfus was the executive vice president of the Massachusetts Hospital Association (MHA) and prior to joining MHA, he was the Massachusetts' Undersecretary of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation. Mr. Dreyfus is also a former newspaper editor and reporter and writes frequently about health care issues.

Beth Lown, MD
Dr. Beth Lown is an internist based at Mt. Auburn Hospital in Cambridge, MA, a Harvard Medical School (HMS) affiliate, where she is an assistant professor of medicine. Dr. Lown graduated from Tufts University School of Medicine and completed her post-graduate medical training at Beth Israel Hospital in 1983. Dr. Lown has a longstanding interest in health care communication, psychosocial aspects of care, and medical education. Her educational responsibilities include faculty development in medical education and teaching; curriculum development; and assessment of interpersonal and communication skills and professionalism across the continuum of medical education. She is the author of a communications primer, “Healthcare Communication for Students,” and co-author of a multimedia, web-based interactive curriculum, “Communication in Clinical Encounters.” Currently, she is the associate director of the Rabkin Fellowship Program in Medical Education at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) and is a Harvard-Macy Institute Scholar and an Institute Scholar at the Carl J. Shapiro Center for Education and Research at HMS and BIDMC. She joined the Schwartz Center Board in 2005 and is the co-chair of its Programming Committee.

Thomas Lynch, Jr., MD
Dr. Lynch is the Director of Yale Cancer Center and Physician-in-Chief of Smilow Cancer Hospital. He is formerly Chief, Hematology Oncology at the Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center.  He received his M.D. in 1986 from Yale University and completed his internship and residency at MGH in 1989.  Dr. Lynch served as a fellow in medical oncology at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute from 1989-1991, and became a member of the staff at the Massachusetts General Hospital in 1992. He joined the Kenneth B. Schwartz Center in 1996, becoming Medical Director in 2000 and Vice Chair, Board of Directors in 2006. He assumed responsibility for the direction of the Oncology Service Line at Partners Healthcare in 2002, Deputy Chief, Hematology Oncology in 2003, and Chief Hematology Oncology in 2006.

Dr. Lynch has worked with advanced fellows in thoracic oncology, leading to important contributions in developmental therapeutics, molecular epidemiology, and clinical economics.   He is the author of numerous publications and maintains a vigorous clinical practice.

Judith Swahnberg Novotny
Judy Swahnberg Novotny joined the Schwartz Center Board of Directors in 2001. She is also the Board representative to the Center's Compassionate Caregiver Award Review Committee, which is responsible for choosing the finalists for the award. Ms. Novotny was a pastoral education fellow at Brigham & Women's Hospital in 2004 and in May 2006 graduated from the Andover Newton Theological School. At Children's Hospital Boston, she serves on the Developmental Medicine Center Philanthropic Council, and she is a volunteer at Wellesley Hills Congregational Church. Ms. Novotny earned her BA from Wellesley College, and her MBA from Simmons College.

Julie Rosen
Julie Rosen became the executive director of the Schwartz Center in June 2004, after serving as a member of the Board of Directors for six years and as co-chair of the Development Committee for four years. She has worked in the health care field for more than 25 years, representing the interests of a variety of providers and managed care organizations, and has extensive experience in media, government and community relations, fundraising, program development, coalition building and strategic funding partnerships. Prior to joining the Schwartz Center, Ms. Rosen was assistant vice president of public and community affairs at Tufts Health Plan for eight and a half years. Ms. Rosen currently serves on the boards of Vinfen Corporation and the Heller Alumni Association. After graduating from Tufts University, she earned a master's degree from the Heller School at Brandeis University.

Thomas Sellers
Tom Sellers is a ten-year cancer survivor whose life mission is to ensure the best possible quality of life for all cancer survivors. Since his mother’s death from lung cancer in 1980, he has spent the last 29 years relentlessly pursuing that mission in both his private and professional life.

He is the President & CEO for the National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship. He has more than 20 years of experience in public service and non-profit management, including 13 years in senior positions in Massachusetts state government. He has been actively involved in the Massachusetts cancer community, as a board member of the Kenneth B. Schwartz Center at Massachusetts General Hospital, Health Law Advocates, and the Massachusetts Prostate Cancer Coalition. From 1989-1994, he served as a Vice President and then Senior Vice President of United Way of Massachusetts Bay, Inc. where he was responsible for finance and administration. A graduate of the Harvard Kennedy School with a master's degree in public administration, Sellers has also served in the public sector as Assistant Commissioner for Finance, MA Department of Public Welfare, and Deputy Commissioner, MA Department of Correction.