Trained in biochemistry, she turned her considerable intellect to understanding GIST when she developed the disease back in the pre-Gleevec era. Waiting to die in hospice care, she was snatched from the jaws of death by the first trial of imatinib (Gleevec). Once she recovered a bit, she started again to study GIST and its treatment. She became one of the founding members of GIST Support International.