Janet Davas has always been a “doer.” After nearly 30 years working in the private energy sector, she turned her energy to social entrepreneurship, launching Liberty’s Kitchen, which offered a job development program to at-risk youth in New Orleans. Then she launched a social entrepreneurship consulting business.
So, in 2020, when faced with a devastating diagnosis — previously treated breast cancer that had metastasized to her brain, spine, and bones — Davas retired from work, but she was determined to keep on “doing.” Though it’s not without challenges, four years after her diagnosis, she lives a full life.
She relishes time spent with her friends and family, goes “picking” for her hobby antiques business around the country, and has traveled internationally at least twice a year since COVID restrictions were lifted. “I haven’t let cancer define me,” she said.
She gives much of the credit to the care she receives at the Duke Center for Brain and Spine Metastasis, where she is treated with a targeted therapy and a team approach. On her first visit to Duke in 2021, Davas met her entire team, including medical oncologist Carey Anders, MD; radiation oncologist John Kirkpatrick, MD; patient navigator Sidonie Magee; and palliative care specialist Betsy Fricklas. She has one word for the experience: “impressive.”
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I'm optimistic in that I'm getting the best care in the world. It’s just an extraordinary group of people, and I want the money to go where it will help others.
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Janet Davas
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Patient at the Duke Center for Brain and Spine Metastasis
In 2024, Davas moved from Asheville, North Carolina, to Durham, to be closer to Duke. “I’m not Pollyanna in thinking that I would ever live forever or that this isn’t going to take my life eventually,” she said. “But I’m optimistic in that I am getting the best care in the world.”
In gratitude, Davas made an estate bequest to benefit the Duke Center for Brain and Spine Metastasis. “It’s just an extraordinary group of people,” she said. “And I want the money to go where it will help others.”
For information about making a planned gift to DCI, please contact Michelle Cohen, executive director of development, at 919-385-3124 or michelle.cohen@duke.edu.
An international network of researchers and clinicians spearheaded by Carey Anders, MD, director of the Duke Center for Brain and Spine Metastasis (DCBSM), has convened with the mission of improving outcomes for patients with brain metastasis. The Consortium for Intracranial Metastasis Academic Research (CIMARa) seeks to redefine how experts across disciplines work together to tackle complex challenges related to brain metastasis.CIMARa’s mission is to foster multidisciplinary collaboration to accelerate research and improve care for patients with brain metastases. Duke played a foundational role in the development of CIMARa, as the idea for the consortium emerged during the 2021 DCBSM Colloquium, an annual event designed to increase competence and provide the most up-to-date, evidenced-based review of the biology of brain and spine metastasis.In the last few years, and particularly at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Anders and her colleagues recognized a need for a more structured, year-round platform to exchange ideas and data. What started as a conversation in 2021 has quickly grown into a consortium with more than 130 members from more than 60 institutions across the world.“We envisioned maybe 20 people meeting a couple of times a year,” Anders said. “Now we have a truly international community of investigators who are eager to collaborate.”The consortium includes neurosurgeons, radiation oncologists, medical and neuro-oncologists, basic scientists, and patient advocates, including representatives from the American Brain Tumor Association.Anders serves as CIMARa’s director, with support from co-director Hussein Tawbi, MD, professor at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, and Amanda Van Swearingen, PhD, scientific program manager for DCBSM.“Duke provided the right platform to launch something like this,” Anders said. “It’s about reaching more patients and improving care through collaboration.”The group meets quarterly, primarily virtually, for members to present new research concepts, seek feedback, and identify potential collaborations.One of the group’s first retrospective projects, BRACER, examines the use of Bevacizumab, a vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-targeted monoclonal antibody, in managing radiation necrosis following treatment for brain metastases. Work on BRACER has also spawned a parallel European study, BRANER, with the Breast International Group that focuses on this same treatment in breast cancer patients.Ultimately, CIMARa hopes to transition toward prospective clinical trials that can capitalize on international data harmonization and shared learning.“Ultimately, the hope is that this work would only benefit our patients,” Anders said. “We’re no longer working in isolation; we’re coming together to improve the lives of our patients.”
An international network of researchers and clinicians spearheaded by Carey Anders, MD, director of the Duke Center for Brain and Spine Metastasis (DCBSM), has convened with the mission of improving outcomes for patients with brain metastasis. The Consortium for Intracranial Metastasis Academic Research (CIMARa) seeks to redefine how experts across disciplines work together to tackle complex challenges related to brain metastasis.CIMARa’s mission is to foster multidisciplinary collaboration to accelerate research and improve care for patients with brain metastases. Duke played a foundational role in the development of CIMARa, as the idea for the consortium emerged during the 2021 DCBSM Colloquium, an annual event designed to increase competence and provide the most up-to-date, evidenced-based review of the biology of brain and spine metastasis.In the last few years, and particularly at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Anders and her colleagues recognized a need for a more structured, year-round platform to exchange ideas and data. What started as a conversation in 2021 has quickly grown into a consortium with more than 130 members from more than 60 institutions across the world.“We envisioned maybe 20 people meeting a couple of times a year,” Anders said. “Now we have a truly international community of investigators who are eager to collaborate.”The consortium includes neurosurgeons, radiation oncologists, medical and neuro-oncologists, basic scientists, and patient advocates, including representatives from the American Brain Tumor Association.Anders serves as CIMARa’s director, with support from co-director Hussein Tawbi, MD, professor at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, and Amanda Van Swearingen, PhD, scientific program manager for DCBSM.“Duke provided the right platform to launch something like this,” Anders said. “It’s about reaching more patients and improving care through collaboration.”The group meets quarterly, primarily virtually, for members to present new research concepts, seek feedback, and identify potential collaborations.One of the group’s first retrospective projects, BRACER, examines the use of Bevacizumab, a vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-targeted monoclonal antibody, in managing radiation necrosis following treatment for brain metastases. Work on BRACER has also spawned a parallel European study, BRANER, with the Breast International Group that focuses on this same treatment in breast cancer patients.Ultimately, CIMARa hopes to transition toward prospective clinical trials that can capitalize on international data harmonization and shared learning.“Ultimately, the hope is that this work would only benefit our patients,” Anders said. “We’re no longer working in isolation; we’re coming together to improve the lives of our patients.”
