Every time I go back to the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute to wait for my test results, and I wonder if I've relapsed or if I'm doing okay, I don't think about my company. I'm proud of everything we've done, but at the end of the day, it comes back to family. I'm still a wife, a mom, a sister - all of those things.

I quickly discovered that scientists go where the funding is, so I knew I had to start a research foundation. If you don't raise money and provide research grants, you'll never attract scientists, and if scientists aren't working on a cure, there isn't going to be a cure.

Being treated by a doctor who specializes in your kind of cancer is so important, especially for those of us who have rare or very rare cancers. They will have access to newer treatment options that may be offered only at big academic cancer centers, so you don't miss out on treatments that could help you.

In 15 years, we've raised $225 million, sequenced the myeloma genome, and opened 45 trials of 23 drugs - six approved by the FDA - which have doubled the life span of multiple myeloma patients. I've taken both Velcade and Revlimid, which we helped develop.

During my nearly five years as director-general of WHO, high-level policymakers have increasingly recognized that health is central to sustainable development.

By training and keeping doctors in underserved areas, we're working toward a goal of increasing access to quality health care for more of our communities.

A public option is essential to creating the cost-savings necessary to offset the cost of providing all Americans access to affordable health care.

There are environmental threats to health; there are internal threats to health - genetic conditions, viral threats, diseases like cancer and Parkinson's. And then there are societal and global ones, like poverty and lack of nutrition. And unknown viral threats - everything from a new kind of influenza to hemorrhagic fever.