Amanda Pullinger, CEO of Debbie's Dream Foundation

06/04/2026

Join us for this months stomach cancer support group 💙

Whether you are a patient, survivor, caregiver, family member, or loved one, this virtual gathering is a safe and welcoming space to connect with others who understand the journey.

Led by psychologist Dr. Jessica Ketterer of Memorial Cancer Institute, each session encourages open conversation, shared support, and meaningful connection through every stage of the experience.

🗓️ Thursday, June 4th
⏰ 4:30–6:00 PM EST

You are not alone we hope to see you there.

Register today: https://debbiesdream.org/event/june-support-group/

06/01/2026

💙🎗️ One of the things I value most about attending conferences like is the opportunity to strengthen global relationships with those who are working every day to improve outcomes for patients affected by cancer.

Over the past few days, I've had the privilege of connecting with researchers, clinicians, industry partners, and advocates from around the world, including a good number of individuals that I have met virtually through the International Women's Day interview series or other interactions. In real life is so much more fun! And I'm grateful to all those who made the effort to say hello. For those I missed at ASCO, I look forward to catching up in person at some point this year.

While the science and research presented at ASCO are incredibly important, it's often the conversations between sessions that remind me how much progress depends on collaboration, shared purpose, and the people behind the work.

Looking forward to continuing these conversations throughout ASCO and beyond. 💙

06/01/2026

05/28/2026

So proud of this milestone moment for Debbie's Dream Foundation: Curing Stomach Cancer and our Advocacy efforts! Thanks to all the hard work over the years from our amazing patient advocates. More details below ⬇️

🏛️🎉 A major advocacy milestone for Debbie’s Dream Foundation and the stomach cancer community! 🎗️🩵

After almost 3 years of advocacy efforts led by Debbie’s Dream Foundation and our advocates, report language directing the Department of Defense to develop a plan, cost estimate, and feasibility study for H. pylori testing and treatment for certain Active Duty service members has officially been included in the House Armed Services Committee’s draft FY2027 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) report.

This is a significant step forward in advancing federal conversations surrounding H. pylori prevention, stomach cancer risk reduction, and health.

The report language recognizes that service members deployed to regions with high H. pylori prevalence, as well as those living in crowded conditions such as ship berthing and other close-quarter environments, may face elevated risk of infection and associated long-term health consequences.

Importantly, this effort could also help generate critical data that may one day support broader H. pylori screening and prevention efforts for the American public.

While this is not yet final law, inclusion in the draft House Armed Services Committee report represents a major advocacy win and an important validation of the work DDF has been leading since 2024.

We are especially grateful to Rep. Joe Wilson for championing the inclusion of this language, as well as House Armed Services Committee Republicans and House Armed Services Committee Democrats Committee Chairman Mike Rogers, Ranking Member Adam Smith, Military Personnel Subcommittee Chair Pat Fallon, and Ranking Member Chrissy Houlahan for their bipartisan leadership on this issue.

📄 Read the draft report language here:https://debbiesdream.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/House-FY27-NDAA-H-Pylori-Report-Lang-for-060426-Markup-1.pdf

📣 The House Armed Services Committee Markup is expected next week, and we will continue sharing updates and action items as the legislative process moves forward.

AdvocacyInAction

05/19/2026

🔊 ATTN: Global researchers in the stomach cancer field!

💠 Advocacy works! From Debbie's Dream Foundation: Curing Stomach Cancer's Advocacy Day and ongoing efforts by our wonderful patient advocates and other volunteers, we are pleased to see that stomach cancer is once again included in the United States U.S. Department of War's Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs.

🙏 Thanks to Sagar Ghosh, Health Science Program Manager at Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs, for posting the pre-application details below.

*️⃣ Debbie's Dream Foundation: Curing Stomach Cancer looks forward to working with Sagar Ghosh on ensuring that his office receives an influx of excellent applications from the global stomach cancer research community.

✴️ To note that there are three types of grants offered under the DoW CDMRP:
- Idea Award - $600K
- Impact Award - $1.5-2 million
- Clinical Trial Award - $4.5 million

Details are included here: https://cdmrp.health.mil/funding/prcrp

➡️ If you are a researcher in the stomach cancer field, or you have colleagues who are, please do get in touch with us for more information about the process. Debbie's Dream Foundation: Curing Stomach Cancer is keen to be helpful in getting the word out and supporting researchers who plan on applying. Email us at [email protected].

05/15/2026

✴️ Today’s No Stomach For Cancer Spotlight on Stomach Cancer symposium hosted by Jeremy L. Davis at UM Greenebaum Comprehensive Cancer Center (part of the University of Maryland Medical System) was another great opportunity to meet and learn firsthand from all those in the stomach cancer ecosystem.

➡️ The sessions covered a variety of topics, but what came through it all was that both practitioners and advocates alike are laser-focused on improving individual patient outcomes.

Thanks to everyone who presented today! A summary of the sessions is below:

*️⃣ Risk Factors and Screening for Gastric Cancer, presented by George John from University of Maryland School of Medicine

*️⃣ CDH1 and CTNNA1 associated gastric cancer risk, presented by Maegan E. Roberts, MS, CGC of The Ohio State University

*️⃣ Endoscopic Therapies for Gastric Cancer, presented by Abdulhameed Al-Sabban of University of Maryland School of Medicine

*️⃣ Gastric Cancer Staging and Surgical Management presented by Marion Liu of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

*️⃣ Biomarkers and Systemic Therapies, presented by Daniel Shu, MD at UM Greenebaum Comprehensive Cancer Center

*️⃣ “I have gastric cancer – now what?”, thoughtfully presented from the patient and family perspective by Brittany Defenderfer BSN, RN and Gwen Ottinger

*️⃣ Life after Gastrectomy: Common Nutrition Myths Debunked, presented by Kaitlin Schotz of University of Maryland Medical System

*️⃣ Updates in CDH1 Clinical Management, presented by Jeremy L. Davis of UM Greenebaum Comprehensive Cancer Center

*️⃣ Gastric and Breast cancer risk estimates and management considerations for CTNNA1 carriers, presented by Bryson Katona of University of Pennsylvania

*️⃣ Emerging Research and Clinical Trials, presented by Anwaar Saeed of University of Pittsburgh

*️⃣ Call to Action: Advocacy & Philanthropy: a panel discussion featuring Stacy Martin, Board member of No Stomach For Cancer; Heidi Minken, Senior Director of Development at University of Maryland School of Medicine and Lisa Berry Edwards, MD, External Affairs at Prevent Cancer Foundation

✴️ During this final panel, we were all challenged to think about what we would do as a result of the conference, in advocating and spreading the word to collectively see an increase in funding for stomach cancer through philanthropy and other grants.

🙏 Thanks to Jon Florin and the No Stomach For Cancer Board for inviting Debbie's Dream Foundation: Curing Stomach Cancer to be part of the day.

📽️ Do watch the recording of the day once it’s released on No Stomach For Cancer’s website. It’ll be well worth your time!

05/14/2026

🙏Thanks to Gang Fang, Director, Center for Genomic AI and Microbiome Medicine at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, for breakfast today in NYC and for the incredible science lesson on the H. pylori bacteria.

During my time as CEO of Debbie's Dream Foundation: Curing Stomach Cancer, so many of my conversations globally have revolved around how we can raise awareness about prevention and early detection for stomach cancer. And the role of H. pylori as a major risk factor has dominated many of those conversations.

💡Gang’s work is focused on understanding the complexities of H. pylori with a view to ensuring effective screening and ultimately collecting samples that can be sequenced. With new technology and innovation, both testing and sampling are becoming more efficient and effective.

⏩️ This important work will help us better understand, on an Individual basis, how we can most effectively test and treat for H. Pylori and how we can evaluate individual risk factors for stomach cancer. This focus on the personalization of medicine is a theme that runs through so many conversations in the field of cancer research, and it’s exciting to see how progress will be made for patients as a result.

📸 We took the photo below at the coffee shop, and the slogan on the wall seemed so apropos - “the possibility of everything.”

Thanks to M. Constanza Camargo for connecting me to Gang and for believing in the possibility of everything!