Suleika Jaouad

Suleika Jaouad is Emmy Award-winning New York Times Columnist for the "Well" section. She is a health advocate and cancer survivor. "I believe that health is about adding life to years, and not years to life." In the summer of 2010 she just graduated from Princeton University, moved to Paris and accepted her first job as a paralegal at a fancy law firm. On paper, everything was going splendidly, but in reality, she was falling apart. "I was burning the candle at both ends, and I was waking up every morning with what felt like a permanent hangover. I felt young, invincible and completely miserable."At age 22, after months of being misdiagnosed, she was finally diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia and a rare blood disorder called "Myelodysplastic Syndrome" (MDS). Consequently, she lost her newly acquired independence and had to move back into her childhood bedroom in upstate New York to begin cancer treatment.Her New York Time Column kept her connected with many other survivors of cancer during her illness and years of chemotherapy as well as bone marrow transplant. The Column received an Emmy in 2013. Presently, she is a sought after public speaker and an advocate for research in cancer, especially in those affecting younger people in increasing frequency.