Monique Tiffany
For nurse and patient advocate Monique Tiffany, breast cancer is personal. After losing her daughter to a genetic mutation that causes breast cancer, she started a memorial scholarship fund to benefit graduate students in genetic counseling at Boise State University.
Tiffany’s daughter lives on through the Ashlie Grace Carr Memorial Scholarship at BSU, where she was a psychology student ― just shy of graduating before her death. Tiffany’s own mother also died from breast cancer when Tiffany was just 10 years old. Then came her own diagnosis in 2001.
Determined to persevere through her illness, Tiffany went on to earn as master’s degree in nursing and has become a champion for treating breast cancer patients and advocating on their behalf. Despite these family tragedies, she is an inspiration to many.
“I strive every day to make a difference because I believe that what we do matters,” she says. “It changes lives, and ushers in hope.”
Now a fierce believer in genetic testing, Tiffany has served as a medical science liaison for Myriad Genetics since 2014, where she leads outreach, clinical education, and support to eight states throughout the Northwest. Genetic and genomic insights make health care personal, a theme that resonates with her third generational family history.
Genetic screening and testing can help detect powerful information to inform health care decisions and improve patient outcomes, according to the Myriad Genetics website. Whether a woman is planning the healthiest pregnancy possible or wants to understand her risk of developing certain cancers, genes can be a guide.
Searching for purpose in something that seemed so purposeless ― cancer ― Tiffany has influenced a better journey for countless families facing cancer. “I have a deep commitment to empowering others and genuinely want to positively impact the lives of everyone I meet,” Tiffany says. “I have been able to take a life of unfortunate circumstances and use that experience to help others.”
Tiffancy is active in various nonprofit organizations, including the National Consortium of Breast Centers, where she serves as chair of the Cancer Genetic Risk Assessment General Committee. She has also been active on its Navigation Committee and Credentialing Committee. She has received an achievement award and invitation to the president’s club at Myriad Genetics.
A former breast care nurse at Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center, she has also worked as a nurse navigator and high-risk program coordinator at two California medical centers and as a nurse planner for the Oregon Nurses Association in her distinguished career. She currently teaches nurse practitioner students as a guest lecturer at Northwest Nazarene University.
“Monique’s strength, courage and leadership as a woman has inspired both men and women across the country to make their health and well-being a priority and to live life to its fullest,” says Sean Burlile of the US Department of Veteran’s Affairs and BSU’s veteran’s services team.