MARY MOCKUS, MD, PHD
Attending Surgeon, Kaiser Permanente
Board President Susan G. Komen San Francisco Bay Area Affiliate
GABRIELA YAMILET ORANTES
Breast Health Outreach Advocate, Sigma Theta Psi
An attending surgeon and epidemiologist at Kaiser San Rafael Medical Center, Dr. Mary Mockus received her training at the University of Colorado and joined Kaiser in 1992. Specializing in breast and colon cancers, she is an active participant in the care of her patients and a proponent of changing modifiable risk factors.
In addition to her considerable duties with Kaiser, Mary is a mother of three and serves her community in myriad other ways, notably as President of the Board of the Susan G. Komen Foundation San Francisco Bay Area Affiliate where her passion for running has grown to a passion for supporting breast cancer research, education, screening and treatment in the nine Bay Area counties.
According to Mary's colleague, Dr. Gordon Manashil, Physician in Chief at Kaiser's San Rafael Medical Center, "Mary exemplifies what it means to be a great physician. A physician who is caring with her patients, exacting in her craft, and passionate in her beliefs. She is a professional committed to finding a cure for breast cancer and working towards safeguarding the next generation."
As a junior at Sir Francis Drake High School, Gaby Yamilet’s attention was drawn to a collaborative volunteer program of Marin Friends of Women and Marin General Hospital for interpreters to assist Spanish-speaking patients. She views exposure to breast cancer information during high school as a valuable asset for herself and all young women.
Her training and experience with breast cancer patients served to clarify her future objectives, and as a freshman at California State University in Monterey, she joined Sigma Theta Psi, a multicultural sorority dedicated to breast health outreach. Gaby serves as an advocate, manning educational booths at campus health fairs and farmer's markets, translating and interpreting for breast cancer awareness and cancer detection programs.
Breast cancer took a personal turn for Gaby and her family when her mother, Ana, was diagnosed in 2003. "As a trained volunteer, I was able to help my mom to understand the doctors and the treatments". Gaby credits her parents, Ana and Pedro Orantes, and her sisters, Laura and Claudia, for pulling together as a family through the stages of her mother's recovery.
