I was at Stanford University from high school through surgery training and spent the first 20 years of my career there as a staff surgeon and in private practice. I did the full range of university-level general surgery, taught residents and medical students, and even ran the Trauma Service while raising my two children. In 1993 I suffered a disabling back injury and began to concentrate on breast surgery, which had always been a special interest of mine. About that time I also began working with Susan. We shared many ideas for patient support and education, and for research. In 1993 I co-founded the Community Breast Health Project in Palo Alto (now Breast Cancer Connections). In 1997 my husband, also a surgeon at Stanford, decided that he wanted to spend the second half of his career in a rural setting, and I followed 3 years later. Since then we have worked very hard to deliver optimal care in our underserved remote community, and we have both become very interested in applying at the national level what we have learned about the whole spectrum of the medical care delivery system. Dr. Love and I have also shown that we can do high-level research in a rural setting, increasing the diversity of women who participate in our mission to completely eliminate breast cancer. I am also involved in improving care in the operating room of our local hospital, and I am one of the Medical Directors of our excellent local hospice program.

Interests:
There is truthfully not much time for anything but work and sleep on most days, but I do avidly follow politics and news, environmental matters, and food policy.

Activities:
I enjoy walking on our beautiful pristine beaches and in the redwood forests in far northern California. I have three rescue terriers (two Jack Russells and one Border) who take a lot of time. I like to sew and garden, but spend far too little time at both of these activities.

Favorite books:
I read mysteries for fun. Travel, knitting, and garden books always catch my eye. Right now I am finishing The World Without Us by Alan Weisman and I recommend it.

Favorite movies:
Movies directed by the Coen Brothers and Michael Moore are my favorites, along with classic films like Citizen Kane, Casablanca, and Alfred Hitchcockmovies. My all-time favorite for a witty movie is Intolerable Cruelty.

Favorite TV shows:
The Rachel Maddow Show, The Daily Show, Real Time With Bill Maher, and The Closer

Favorite Quotes:
“Not every patient can be saved, but his illness may be eased by the way the doctor responds to him -- and in responding to him the doctor may save himself. But first he must become a student again; he has to dissect the cadaver of his professional persona; he must see that his silence and neutrality are unnatural. It may be necessary to give up some of his authority in exchange for his humanity, but as the old family doctors knew, this is not a bad bargain. In learning to talk to his patients, the doctor may talk himself back into loving his work. He has little to lose and everything to gain by letting the sick man into his heart. If he does, they can share, as few others can, the wonder, the terror, and exaltation of being on the edge of being, between the natural and the supernatural.” -- Anatole Broyard

professional background

Ellen Mahoney, M.D., is a practicing breast surgeon in Arcata, California. She is a former member of the clinical faculty of the Department of Surgery at Stanford University. In 2000, Dr. Mahoney and her husband moved to rural northern California in order to serve and to understand the full spectrum of health care needs from a university setting to remote rural areas. Dr. Mahoney is the co-founder of the Community Breast Health Project, now known as Breast Cancer Connections, in Palo Alto. She is the co-author of the Humboldt Breast Medicine Project, an interactive tool to manage breast health questions for primary care practitioners. Dr. Mahoney also works with Susan Love in her Breast Cancer Foundation and is a contributor to Dr. Love's website. She is also active in helping Dr. Love with updating the new editions of Dr. Susan Love's Breast Book. The results of her work have furthered the knowledge of breast cancer literature and of the problems faced by patients and families. She has used this knowledge to support other nonprofit breast cancer organizations, including the Breast Cancer Action and the Humboldt Community Breast Health Project. Dr. Mahoney was named a "Local Legend" by two members of Congress. This award is sponsored by the American Medical Women's Association, the NIH, and the National Library of Medicine. She is also a consultant on rural health policy and operating room efficiency and best practices, and is becoming the Medical Director of Hospice.

Degrees:

B.A., Psychology/Anthropology, Stanford University
M.D., Stanford Medical School

Associations:

• Member, California Breast Cancer Research Council
• Co-Founder, Community Breast Health Project
• Member, Alumni Board of Directors, Santa Catalina School
• Expert Reviewer, Medical Board of California
• Member, Board of Directors, Stanford University
• Member, Care Review Board, Stanford University
• Member, Risk Management Board, Stanford University

Awards:

• World of Giving Award, Girl Scouts of America, 1998
• Woman of Vision, Career Action Center, 1996
• Community Service Award, Santa Clara County Medical Association, 2000
• You Have Made a Difference Award, the Komen Foundation, San Francisco, 2001