The NCBC Certification Board oversees all NCBC certification programs.
Kristie Bobolis, MD, CGRA, BHCN - Certification Board President
Kristie is the Medical Director of the Breast Cancer Program at Sutter Roseville Medical Center (SRMC), the Immediate Past President and Fellow of the National Consortium of Breast Centers (NCBC).
Dr. Bobolis focuses her practice caring for women with breast cancer and high-risk patients. She is the founding Medical Director of the Cancer Risk/Genetics and Lymphedema Programs and leads the multidisciplinary breast team at SRMC Cancer Center. She remains active in clinical research.
Edith Smith, DNP, CNM, WHNP-BC, AGN-BC, CGRA - Certification Board Vice President
Edith works at Myriad Genetics in the Department of Medical Affairs as a Medical Science Liaison. Dr Smith is a triple board-certified Advanced Practice Nurse with over 30 years of clinical experience and is a specialist in breast cancer risk assessment, cancer genetics, and women's health.
Cary Kaufman MD, FACS - Treasurer
Dr. Kaufman is a breast surgeon in practice for over 30 years. His professional life focuses on individual patient care, with special interests in research, teaching and community and physician education. He has lectured in 14 countries and 23 states. Research interests include breast ultrasound, specimen imaging, cryoablation and oncoplastic surgery. He is Past-Chair of the NAPBC and of the NQMBC. He is a Clinical Professor of Surgery at the University of Washington.
Nicole Centers MBA, BSN, RN, OCN, CBCN, BHCN - Secretary
Nicole is the Executive Director of the Oncology Service Line as the Nurse Leader for WellStar Health System. Starting her oncology career as an infusion and compounding nurse, she has worked in many facets of oncology care in Kentucky, Florida, Texas, and Georgia. Having developed breast health and genetic clinics, overseen cancer clinic builds, and created several navigation programs, the impact of quality, patient-centered care is the focus of her career. Nicole serves on and leads several national committees with varying organizations to share best practices, develop testing, and standard set for varying professional components of the care continuum. Throughout her career, NCBC has remained a source of growth and experience, from certifying as a breast navigator, presenting posters of abstracts, serving on committees, presenting best practices in navigation, to now serving on their Board of Directors.
Monique Tiffany MSN, RN, CGRA, BHCN
Monique is an experienced cancer genetics trained and certified nurse who serves as a clinical resource at Myriad Genetics for healthcare providers. As a Medical Science Liaison for Myriad, she consults with healthcare providers regarding cancer-genetics related clinical questions, identification of patients at risk, results disclosure, and clinical practice updates. As a Nurse planner she creates and delivers programs that support nursing continuing professional development. Prior to joining the Myriad team, she worked as an oncology nurse navigator, specialized breast cancer nurse, and high risk/cancer genetics program coordinator in both oncologic surgery and imaging service lines. In addition, she is a 20+ year triple-negative breast cancer survivor and a BRCA1 mutation carrier with a passion for helping those diagnosed with cancer and the prevention of cancer in those who are at risk.
John Bell, MD, FACS
Dr. John L. Bell received his medical degree from the University of Alabama/Birmingham, following which he completed an internship and residency in General Surgery in 1986 at the same facility. Dr. Bell then completed a fellowship in Surgical Oncology at the University of Texas, MD Anderson Cancer Center in 1988. Immediately following his fellowship, Dr. Bell was recruited by the Department of Surgery to develop a Division of Surgical Oncology and an overall oncology program at the University of Tennessee Medical Center. Dr. Bell currently serves as Director of the Cancer Institute at the University of Tennessee Medical Center, a Professor in the Department of Surgery at the University of Tennessee Graduate School of Medicine and a Surgical Oncologist with University Surgical Oncology. He is certified by the American Board of Surgery. Dr. Bell is a member of numerous societies including the Southern Surgical Association, the American College of Surgeons, the Southeastern Surgical Congress, the American Society of Clinical Oncology, and the American Society of Breast Surgeons. He is past-president of the National Consortium of Breast Centers 2011-2013, and has authored numerous publications and abstracts
Belinda Zaparinuk R.T.(M),(BS), CBEC, FNCBC
Belinda received her education at Labette Community College Radiology Program and training at Mt. Carmel Medical Center, Pittsburg KS and St. Francis Hospital, Wichita KS. She has been involved in the start up and operations of 6 breast centers along with program development. She has 37 years of experience in the field of breast imaging and has presented at national conferences, trained medical professional in imaging and CBE/BSE in the United States, Africa, China and Nicaragua.
Kathleen R. Blazer, EdD, MS, CGC
Kathleen is a Professor in the Departments of Medical Oncology and Population Sciences, and Director of the Cancer Genomics Education Program (CGEP) at City of Hope National Medical Center. The CGEP is a multifaceted cancer genomics education and training program for physicians, allied health care professionals and post-doctoral researchers. Dr. Blazer has had an integral role in the development, administration and assessment of the NCI-funded initiatives of the CGEP since joining City of Hope in 1998. The outcomes and theoretical framework her education research serve as the cornerstone of the Intensive Course and Clinical Cancer Genomics Community of Practice (CCGCoP), which brings cancer genetics practitioners from diverse practice settings together for professional learning and enduring patient-centered support across the U.S. and internationally. She is recipient of the 2019 American Society of Human Genetics Arno Motulsky-Barton Childs Award for Excellence in Human Genetics Education, in recognition of the scope and reach of the education initiatives of the CGEP since its inception in 1997. She is a member of the American Society of Human Genetics, the National Society of Genetic Counselors, American Society of Clinical Oncology, the American Association of Cancer Education, and the National Human Genome Research Institute Inter-Society Coordinating Committee for Practitioner Education in Genomics.
Kent Hoskins, MD
Kent is a Medical Oncologist and the Eileen Lindsay Heidrick Professor in Oncology at the University of Illinois at Chicago where he is director of Cancer Genetics. Dr. Hoskins' early research described the spectrum of mutations in BRCA1 in families with the Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancer syndrome. His research has been funded by the National Cancer Institute, the Department of Defense and the American Cancer Society, and he has published more than 50 papers in peer-reviewed journals. His work now focuses on population screening for hereditary breast cancer risk and health disparities.
Julie Mak, MS, MSc, CGC
Julie is a genetic counselor supervisor in the Cancer Genetics and Prevention Program at the University of California San Francisco, where she has worked since 2002. Her clinical effort is in the Hereditary Cancer Clinic, a multi-specialty team focused on the care of individuals with inherited risk for breast, ovarian, and other cancers. Julie is also involved in the teaching of genetic counseling students and other trainees. She is a member of the NCCN Committee for Genetic/Familial High-Risk Assessment: Breast, Ovarian, and Pancreatic, and she has been an invited speaker at local and national genetics and oncology conferences.
Gayle Patel, MS, CGC
Gayle is a Certified Genetic Counselor who works at Texas Oncology as the Director of the Genetic Risk Evaluation and Testing or GREAT Program. Gayle received her master’s degree in Genetic Counseling at The University of North Carolina, Greensboro. Prior to being part of the Texas Oncology Team, Gayle was a genetic counselor in a general genetics clinic for the Seton Healthcare system in Austin, Texas providing prenatal, pediatric and adult genetic counseling for 6 years. As the GREAT Program director Gayle provides educational and operational support to Texas Oncology providers who offer genetic evaluations in their clinics. Gayle and a team of 4 certified genetic counselors support over 100 providers across 210 Texas clinic locations to bring cancer genetic risk evaluations to more individuals in need. Since 2012, Texas Oncology has provided genetic evaluations to over 40,000 Texans!
Katherine Lord, PA-C
I am certified physician assistant practicing at Texas Oncology since late 2012. I previously practiced at department of Leukemia and Lymphoma at Emory Winship Cancer Institute, Atlanta, Georgia. I am NCCPA board certified. I received my Bachelor of Arts in French from Middlebury College, Middlebury, Vermont. I then went on to receive my Master of Medical Science in Physician Assistant form Emory University School of Medicine Physician Assistant Program in Atlanta, Georgia. I have published numerous articles in several medical journals including Clinical Lymphoma, Myeloma and Leukemia, Leukemia and Lymphoma and PA Professional. In 2017, I presented original research regarding the incidence of germline cancer susceptibility mutations in primary CNS neoplasm patients at the Society of Neuro-Oncology’s annual meeting. I served as Texas Oncology’s Central Region Governance Committee lead from 2015-2020 where I coordinated regional APP educational initiatives, organized and led quarterly APP meetings, supported APPs in troubleshooting practice issues, helped to coordinate APP onboarding, regional leader in implementation and growing of APP initiatives. I resumed this role in 2022, once again serving as the lead APP in the organization’s central region. Cancer genetics has been a big part of my practice since joining Texas Oncology and I completed the City of Hope Intensive Course in Genomic Cancer Risk Assessment, November 1, 2019-March 14, 2020. More recently I was the lead author on a paper accepted to JAAPA (publication pending) entitled Genetic Cancer Risk Assessment for PA Practice: Meeting Unmet Needs Through Novel Approaches to Care. Since 2019 I have served as the APP representative to Austin’s Physician Executive Committee where I attend monthly meetings, relay relevant APP issues, promote and implement APP initiatives. During my tenure at Texas Oncology, I was the lead APP on the Bone Marrow Biopsy Task Force where I helped to create a comprehensive toolkit for training and credentialling APPs for preforming these procedures within the Texas Oncology network. I was the lead author on a paper accepted (publication pending) to JADPRO entitled Development of a Standardized Bone Marrow Procedure Training and Competency Toolkit for Advanced Practice Providers in a Large Community Oncology Practice. I am a member of the National Consortium of Breast Cancers, Advanced Practitioner Society for Hematology and Oncology and the American Academy of Physicians Assistant.
Char Vasile R.T. (R) (M), BHCN
Char will soon be retiring as the Program Manager for the Breast Center of Excellence at St. Mary-Corwin Hospital in Pueblo, Colorado. She has 30 years of breast imaging experience and has been responsible for NAPBC and NQMBC accreditation. She also has been responsible for MQSA for two facilities and assisted in St. Mary-Corwin’s BiCOE accreditation. She as helped develop a High Risk Breast care clinic and navigation program. She has also worked with Myriad and Volpara/CRA to integrate genetics into the EPIC mammography workflow.
Mary Rivera, MSN, RN, AOCNS
Mary is an experienced Oncology Clinical Nurse Specialist with a specialization in patient navigation. With over 20 years of dedicated service in oncology healthcare and leadership, Mary has been instrumental in developing and implementing patient navigation programs across multiple healthcare facilities. Her expertise lies in brokering strategies of shared collaboration amongst frontline team members, providers, researchers, and other healthcare leaders regarding care coordination, clinical pathways and best practices, from screening to survivorship. Mary’s collaborative approach involves working closely with community based and multidisciplinary teams, to ensure that patients receive comprehensive, high-quality care. She is passionate about eliminating barriers to care and providing personalized support to patients and their families, helping them navigate the healthcare system with ease. In addition to pursuing her Doctoral degree, Mary is actively involved in oncology nursing education and mentorship, sharing her knowledge and experience with the next generation of nurses. Her commitment to patient-centered, evidenced-based cancer care added to the ability to foster strong Navigation programs amongst a service line has been a driving force in her career. In her spare time, Mary enjoys gardening during the warmer months and volunteering at her local community animal shelter as a medical foster in State College, Pennsylvania.
Leslie Williams (Public Member)
Leslie is a 16-year, two-time breast cancer survivor. She’s had chemo, radiation, lumpectomy and decisively a double mastectomy after the second diagnosis. Her first diagnosis was Stage 1: Triple Negative Breast Cancer (TNBC) in 2009 and her second diagnosis was Stage 0: DCIS ER+, PR+ in 2023. After the first diagnosis she discovered a lot of chaotic misinformation regarding Triple Negative Breast Cancer. In helping women navigate through this diagnosis and breast cancer, in general, she made this her passion ministry. In 2013, she founded Survivors On Purpose, Inc., a non-profit that promotes knowledge, education and self-advocacy “in order to take the sting out of a breast cancer diagnosis”. Within that same year she also created a “social network group”, that offers a community outreach component, various educational themes, and advocacy. She wanted it to be enriching, informative and collaborative. Many cancer survivors have a fear that their cancer will return. However, after defeating two breast cancer diagnoses, “only by the grace of God”, she learned how to “turn her fear into her fight”! She became more driven to continue her ministry which empowers, motivates, encourages, and enlightens women on this journey. She believes the key to walking in your fear is through the means of active engagement, having access to effective resources, and surrounding yourself with your tribe. Her Pink Nugget of Wisdom is “Pink doesn’t cure cancer, education does”!
Tara Latta (Public Member)
Tara brings 18 years of healthcare technology experience, including research, patient navigation, and advocacy, to her work championing advancements in breast cancer care. Following the loss of her mother to metastatic breast cancer in 2021 and her own unexpected diagnosis despite a clear mammogram, Tara joined My Density Matters as a consultant, developing and leading community outreach initiatives. She empowers women with knowledge about risk assessment, personal risk, and screening options to facilitate informed discussions with their physicians. A dedicated advocate for health equity, Tara advocates for Tigerlily Foundation, contributes to the Chicago Better Together Breast Cancer Disparities Think Tank, and engages in research and policy advocacy with the National Breast Cancer Coalition. Her mission: to eradicate breast cancer through equitable access to care.
