Shared Stories

I grew up in a smoking family. Back in those days, there was no education on the dangers of smoking. In fact, cigarette advertising campaigns on TV and in print were the norm. After many years of smoking, I decided to quit completely 25 years ago.

I climb for my father who we lost in 2013 and my mother who died in 2017 - my father died from complications due to COPD and my mother died from lung cancer.

I am an early career physician scientist, on year 4/5 of my K23. I recently submitted a U01 grant to NIAID to study novel drug combinations in patients with M.abscessus lung disease.

At my annual checkup in 2024, my primary care physician recommended and ordered a low-dose CT scan. I was afraid of what the test might find, since I started smoking as a teenager.

In December 2020, I developed a lingering cough. Some days it seemed to improve, so I didn’t get it checked out. It continued into January, when I developed a raspy voice for no apparent reason.

In January 2020, I was diagnosed with a rare form of breast cancer. My local surgeon didn’t know what it was, so he referred me to Stanford.

This picture was taken after Thanksgiving 2024, when our mom was diagnosed with stage 4 adenocarcinoma and an EGFR genetic mutation.

I used to live in Redlands, California — near San Bernardino in the Los Angeles suburbs, an area known as the Inland Empire — from 2014 to 2022.

I'm a lifelong nonsmoker diagnosed with early COPD. I was diagnosed with asthma 25 years earlier, in my late 30s.

I turned 86 this past March. I have been a resident of the Town of Middlebury, Connecticut, since 1964. I have been an involved and responsible resident, serving on various boards and commissions through the years.

I have gotten bronchitis every single year from as early as I can remember. In 2013, I was 43 years old, and it was the same thing -- I went to the doctor for bronchitis and took medicine for it.

My name is Linda and I am a 60-year-old wife, mother and grandmother. I want to shout from the rooftops how low-dose lung screening saved my life.

EPA's Office of Research and Development asked me to develop a new NAAQS PM2.5 standard method – that is, to come up with a better way to measure fine particles to ensure a better health outcome for the American people.

During my time at the EPA, the Office of Research and Development’s work informed regulatory decisions involving air, water, land and chemicals. It informed enforcement actions, as well as cleanup and emergency response efforts in EPA’s regions.

The most important thing I learned during my 30+ year career is that the civil servants in the EPA air office care deeply about providing clean air for everyone and doing it in the most efficient and effective way possible.