ABOUT US

Board of Directors

JOHN HAGEMAN
BOARD CHAIRMAN

John Hageman is the President and Chairman of the Board of Hageman Foundation. He is married to Linda Hageman, co-founder of the foundation. Mr. Hageman is a retired Avionics Engineer with 35 years of experience in avionics and engineering management. Mr. Hageman graduated with a BSEE in electronics in 1967 from the University of Miami located in Coral Gables, Florida. His interest in the Hageman Foundation and their key initiative, the AMENsupport.org website, runs deep. Not only has having a wife as the poster child for MEN awareness influenced his life’s decisions and has become a driving passion of their legacy together, but having children with the potential to develop the disease has created an urgency in each work day and every campaign.

LINDA HAGEMAN, RN
FOUNDER

Linda Hageman, RN, is the Founder of the Hageman Foundation and has been a Registered Nurse for more than 30 years. She was diagnosed with Multiple Endocrine Neoplasia (MEN1) in 1989; ten years after both her mother and maternal uncle were diagnosed with MEN. Mrs. Hageman has had adenoma involvement with all three of the endocrine glands. She has had multiple parathyroid surgeries, a Thompson Procedure and total pancreatectomy. Her passion is to help others with MEN through education and support. Mrs. Hageman is in the unique position to have not only been through it, but has access to cutting edge breakthroughs for this rare disease,

DR. MARK LEWIS
VICE PRESIDENT

Mark A. Lewis studied and trained at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, receiving his Doctor of Medicine in 2005, followed by residency and board certifications in Internal Medicine, Medical Oncology and Hematology. He is a member of the American Society of Clincial Oncology, Alpha Omega Alpha. He is with the Genomics Cancer Research Clinic and Intermountain Healthcare, a Utah-based, not-for-profit system of 22 hospitals, a Medical Group with more than 1,600 physicians and advanced practice clinicians at about 180 clinics, a health plans division called SelectHealth, and other health services. Mark is an integral part of the AMENSupport family and has a strong leadership role in shaping the organization’s present and future. He lives with his family in Murray, Utah, has MEN 1. Mark recently had the Whipple procedure. His blog about his experiences can be found here: https://www.oftumorsandmen.com/whipple-blog/

MARSHALL MYER
BOARD MEMBER

Marshall Myer is director of E-Commerce and Customer Care Manager for Rice Automotive Group in Knoxville, TN. He graduated from The Johns Hopkins University in 1981 with a BS degree in political science and public policy. Marshall is married to Christina Grey Myer and has four sons, Rett, Nick, Riley and Nate. Nate was diagnosed with MEN2B in 2010 a few weeks after his 10^th birthday. Since then, he has undergone two surgeries at Yale’s Pediatric Endocrinology Center and was the first pediatric patient invited to participate in the National Institute of Health’s MEN Natural History Study. Marshall is an advocate for families and children afflicted by rare diseases with a particular focus on MEN2B and Medullary Thyroid Cancer. Marshall has first-hand experience with the shock and confusion that can overwhelm families of children recently diagnosed with rare diseases who often find that they quickly learn more than most medical professionals about disease progression and treatment. He joined the Board of AMENSupport in 2016 to help provide these families with compassion, understanding and expertise in negotiating the maze of medical and emotional issues that nearly always accompany a rare disease diagnosis.

“We all suddenly find ourselves getting a PhD. in a disease or syndrome we didn’t even know existed just a few short days before!”

TAB BURKHALTER TREASURER

Tab Burkhalter is a founding board member and treasurer for the Hageman Foundation. He wears many hats in Blount County. Since 2010, Tab has served as the District 1 Commissions for Blount County. He is the founding partner of a full-service CPA and Law Firm in Maryville, Burkhalter and Associates, PC, which has been operating since 2002. He a member of several professional organizations and serves on the board for a variety of community organizations in Maryville, Tennessee. Tab received his both MBA and Juris Doctor from UT-Knoxville in 1999.

DR. JAMES BROOME
BOARD MEMBER

Endocrine surgeon and researcher Dr. James T. Broome is one of just two fellowship-trained endocrine surgeons in the middle Tennessee region, treating patients from throughout the region, from middle Tennessee, extending north to Kentucky, south to Alabama and points east and west to the entire state.

Many of his patients are referred from primary care physicians or endocrinologists. Dr. Broome, located at Saint Thomas Midtown, provides a complete endocrine workup, including labs, ultrasound, biopsies and surgery, if necessary, making care easier and more efficient for patients.

Dr. Broome’s clinical interests include disease management of the thyroid, parathyroids, adrenals and pancreas, neuroendocrine tumors and rare genetic disorders. He is particularly interested in PTH-guided (AKA minimally invasive) Para thyroidectomy, advanced laparoscopic adrenalectomies, the management of thyroid malignancy, and inherited cancer syndromes.

DR. BARRY FERGUSON
BOARD MEMBER

Dr. Barry Ferguson is an active member of the Hageman Foundation board while working for Target Corporation as their Executive Pharmacy Team Leader since 2006. Prior to Target, Dr. Ferguson worked for Kmart for 12 years, ultimately in charge of operations of 35 pharmacy departments in a tri-state area. He was named the Kmart “Pharmacy Group Leader of the Year” in 2003. Dr. Ferguson is also a commercial pilot and certified flight instructor and volunteers with Angel Flight to provide flights for patients receiving treatment at distant medical facilities. In other community service, Dr. Ferguson partnered with Ruby Tuesday Corporation to coordinate the development of a discounted prescription drug program for uninsured Ruby Tuesday employees. Dr. Ferguson has partnered with the Hageman Foundation to provide informative lay language education for medications commonly prescribed for patients with MEN.

SHERRI GARDNER-HOWELL
BOARD MEMBER

Sherri Gardner Howell has been in journalism since she graduated from the University of Tennessee in 1976. Gardner Howell’s career includes feature writer, columnist, section editor and assistant managing editor for a major daily newspaper and publisher of a small town weekly newspaper. She was inducted into the East Tennessee Writers Hall of Fame in 2017. Gardner Howell jumped into the world of small business and sole proprietorship with the founding of SGH Enterprises in 2012. Her company offers writing services, public relations and marketing, concentrating primarily on small businesses that need an extra push to improve their visibility and image. Gardner Howell’s volunteer work includes the Blount County Chamber of Commerce Board, the Appalachian Ballet Board of Trust, the United Way of Blount County Board, the 2009-2012 United Way Campaign Committee as communications chair and 2012 PaceSetters Chair, founding member and current president of the Maryville Arts Coalition and a charter member of the Hageman Foundation.

JACQUELINE MILLER SANDERSON
BOARD MEMBER

Jacqueline Miller Sanderson is an active member of the Hageman Foundation board while employed at 3M as a production associate. Ms. Sanderson earned her associate degree in electronic engineering from ETI Technical Institute in Ohio and also earned her web design diploma from the online division of The Art Institute of Pittsburgh. Ms. Sanderson is committed to serving the Hageman Foundation board because she saw a real need to deliver MEN information to those with the disease, along with their families. A volunteer since 1983, Ms. Sanderson has been delivering the latest up-to-date MEN information to medical personnel as well, who are often not taught about MEN in medical school. Ms. Sanderson lives in northwest Alabama on a small farm with her husband and two cats.

CECIL “STEVE” MARTIN
BOARD MEMBER

Cecil Steve Martin has been a part of the AMENSupport family for many years before coming on as a board member in January of 2017. His expertise in computers, technology integration and web design have helped the organization with the Facebook page and website many times. Mr. Martin, a MEN1 patient, had a total pancreatectomy, spleen and gall bladder surgery in 2008. He is married to Diane Martin and has a daughter who has been diagnose positive. Mr. Martin lives in Beavercreek, Ohio, and enjoys computers, amateur radio, photography, hunting, fishing and camping. He is restoring a 1969 Chevell and restoring and upgrading a 1987 boat. He has two grandsons