About the Author

Dr. Tina M. St. John was born and raised in Erie, Pennsylvania. After earning her Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry from the University of South Florida, she earned her medical degree from Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia. She is an epidemiologist and was formerly a Senior Medical Officer at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). After leaving CDC, Dr. St. John established her own small business as a free-lance medical writer, editor, and research consultant. She is a member of the American Public Health Association, the American Medical Writers Association, the Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honor Society, and a number of other professional organizations.

Dr. St. John has published extensively in both the professional and lay press, and has been an invited presenter at many professional meetings. She was a keynote speaker at the First International Conference on Prevention and Early Diagnosis of Lung Cancer in Varese, Italy. Dr St. John is a committed patient advocate, and recently became the Medical Director of the Caring Ambassadors Program, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping people challenged with chronic and/or life-threatening illnesses. Patient advocacy and providing people facing life-threatening illnesses with easily understood and accurate information are among Dr. St. John’s primary professional goals.

Dr. St. John’s late husband, Andrew L. St. John, PhD, died in 1998 of non-small cell lung cancer at the age of 43. Dr. St. John currently resides with her 11-year-old daughter, Hope, in Vancouver, Washington.