Young is the third Ohio awardee in history. She follows 2023 Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Maureen O’ Conner and 2022 Ohio Department of Health Director Amy Acton. Other heroines who have made a significant impact in their communities and across the country, according to the release.
Michele Young, an acclaimed Cincinnati lawyer, mother of five, advanced-stage breast cancer survivor and tireless advocate for social justice was named one of USA Today’s Women of the Year.
“Michele Young is a force of nature and truly deserving of this recognition. Her vision, leadership and tireless work on behalf of women with dense breast tissue have raised awareness, changed laws and – most importantly – saved lives. Knowing Michele, she views this honor as an opportunity bring more visibility to her recently launched campaign to accelerate development of a breast cancer vaccine,” said Beryl Love, Cincinnati Enquirer, a USA Today Network publication, Executive Editor.
The release went on to say, “Imagine the extraordinary potential that will be unleashed when an epidemic that strikes one in seven women is erased from this earth,” said Young. “We can end breast cancer – not in a generation – but in a matter of years. The science is here.”
Michele witnessed changes in breast cancer science first-hand as a stage 4 patient in the cancer wards of our nation. She learned of “The Madame Curie of Our Time,” Dr. Nora Disis, who after working on cancer vaccines for three decades saw that science now knows how to produce the body’s immune response and have affordable effective vaccine technology.
She learned of Cleveland Clinic’s Dr. Thomas Budd who is studying a vaccine in those with triple-negative breast cancer. And other giants in oncology. She learned that the efforts were sporadically funded and not coordinated. She saw that it might take 20 or 30 years or more unless we all came together. Meanwhile, each year, millions of women die world-wide from the disease.
Michele shared her findings with acclaimed NBC National News Correspondent Kristen Dahlgren, also a breast cancer survivor. Kristen interviewed Dr. Nora Disis who explained that with the right coordinated leadership a vaccine was possible in as soon as five years.
“I was blown away. Michele changed my life when she called me. The research was happening and hardly anybody knew about it,” said Dahlgren. “We are literally a few years away from changing breast cancer as we know it. But we’ve normalized the disease so much that there’s not the effort there should be – a massive one from every corner of the country — to get it done.”
Michele suggested a true moonshot, an Oppenheimer-style project, with the single purpose of saving as many women’s lives as possible in the shortest time by making a breast cancer vaccine available to all. Kristen agreed.
“It all made such sense to me. Why wouldn’t we help the top researchers to come together and prove their concepts as quickly as possible? It could save millions of lives,” said Dahlgren. Dahlgren, who had covered wars and natural catastrophes across the world, was not one to say “no” to risk. “I was all in,” she said.
“Now I knew how Betty Friedan felt when she met Gloria Steinem,” said Michele. “We have a true women’s movement and with Kristen, a star who could help send our message across the world. Kristen is a revered and trusted journalist with the rare ability to translate scientific concepts in a way that we can all understand. She is heroic and noble in character. Together, we are unstoppable.”
And thus began the Pink Eraser Project. The non-profit is bringing together the top scientific minds and institutions across the country, grassroots breast cancer advocates, government agencies and breast cancer survivors to accelerate the development of breast cancer vaccines. They plan to raise whatever is needed to do this. After all, Young points out, the return on investment – a world without breast cancer as a fatal disease – is worth it.
“I am a lucky woman. If I had not traveled the cancer wards of the nation as a stage-four patient, I would not have seen the change before my eyes,” said Young. “I do not know if I will live to benefit from these efforts and walk my children down the aisle or meet my grandchildren. But change is happening and Kristen and I will do all we can to accelerate that change.”
Michele, celebrating her 32nd year wedding anniversary today, is an against-the-odds survivor of stage 4 breast cancer. She has spent her life conquering the odds including groundbreaking legal victories, transformative community initiatives and a commitment to public service all of which have left an indelible mark on the fabric of Ohio and beyond.
On the day Michele met her treating oncologist with a diagnosis of a late-stage breast cancer missed by mammograms for years because she has dense breasts, she chose to fight for her life and for all others.
With her oncologist Elyse Lower, Ohio State Representatives Jean Schmidt and Sedrick Denson, and radiologists Dr. Mary Mahoney and Dr. Annie Brown, they spearheaded and passed HB 371 which won the right for Ohio women, including those with dense breasts, to early and affordable detection of breast cancer. Michele went on to bring the battle to the nation and that is how she met the NBC national correspondent Kristen Dahlgren.
Michele’s impact extends far beyond her present work on breast cancer. She is a champion for those who have been marginalized, overlooked or unfairly treated, advocating for social justice with unwavering dedication. Her approach includes building bridges, bringing together diverse teams and leveraging data-driven strategies to dismantle barriers that hinder individual and institutional potential.
Michele is part of the legal team that brought justice to the family of Gabriel Taye, an eight-year-old child who committed suicide after being bullied. The landmark $3 million settlement changed the way bullying is handled and the Cincinnati Public Schools now have a new, data-driven approach that predicts bullying much like forecasters can predict storms, allowing the schools to get ahead of the bullying.
She has worked for years with Patricia Collins and the Bootsy Collins Foundation to uplift the lives of children and create the cultural changes needed to establish a community where violence and bullying is no longer tolerated and all children can soar. In addition, Michele lifted the lives of local children, including co-organizing school backpack drives and bringing healthy food to the Cincinnati Public Schools. She co-founded the AJC Black Jewish Table of Understanding and other interfaith and interracial efforts to bring the community together.
Michele was part of the successful pro-bono effort to free Tyra Patterson after 23 years in prison for a crime she did not commit. Michele is honored to remain a dear friend to Tyra. She has been honored in her community, including a Michele L. Young Day and as a Cincinnati Enquirer Woman of the Year.
“I was not prepared for this honor of a lifetime. But it is one that allows us to go forward full steam ahead with a project that could transform the lives of women on this planet. Imagine when breast cancer no longer holds back the lives of one in seven women. Or those women who are killed by the disease – one woman every 14 seconds – taking her from her world,” said Young. “Imagine a world where the debilitating and disfiguring treatments are no longer a rite of passage and the pink ribbon is erased as a distant memory of an illness that is no more. That is the world I want for us. Thanks to USA Today, that world has come far closer today.”
Michele encourages anyone interested in to join her and Kristen at Pink Eraser Project.
Picture above: Sam Greene/The Enquirer
