Debbie Zelman
(1967 – 2017)
Our Founder
In April 2008, Debbie Zelman was a 40-year-old attorney, wife, and mother of three young children when she received a life-altering diagnosis: stage IV stomach cancer. The cancer was deemed inoperable and incurable, and she was told she would need chemotherapy for the rest of her life. At the time, effective treatments for advanced gastric cancer were limited, and her five-year survival rate was estimated at just 4%.
Determined to fight, Debbie closed her law practice and began intensive treatment. She endured harsh chemotherapy, hospital visits, scans, and long months confined to bed. But even as she battled for her life, she quickly realized the glaring lack of resources, research, and awareness for this devastating disease.
Rather than accept this reality, Debbie took action.
In 2009, she founded Debbie’s Dream Foundation: Curing Stomach Cancer (DDF) with a bold mission: to increase stomach cancer awareness, fund innovative research, and provide support for stomach cancer patients and caregivers worldwide. Drawing from her legal expertise and community ties, she built an organization that has since become a leading voice in stomach cancer advocacy—driving change on Capitol Hill, accelerating research funding, and creating a global support network for patients and families.
Debbie’s legacy lives on through every life touched by DDF. Her dream remains our mission: to make the cure for stomach cancer a reality.
“Life is a gift, and it offers us the privilege, opportunity, and responsibility to give something back by becoming more.”
– Tony Robbins
DDF Milestones led by Debbie Zelman
- Launched 29 chapters across the U.S., Canada, and Germany to expand stomach cancer awareness and support.
- Provided free, personalized support to thousands of patients, families, and caregivers worldwide through the Patient Resource Education Program (PREP).
- Hosted educational symposia and webinars featuring leading gastric cancer diagnosis, treatment, and survivorship experts.
- Assembled a world-renowned Scientific and Medical Advisory Board composed of top researchers and clinicians.
- Successfully advocated for including stomach cancer in the Department of Defense’s Peer Reviewed Cancer Research Program (PRCRP)
- Worked to increase funding priority with the National Cancer Institute (NCI) for stomach cancer research.
- Held the first-ever Capitol Hill Briefing focused on stomach cancer, launching what would become DDF’s flagship advocacy initiative
A LEADER • AN ADVOCATE • AN INSPIRATION
Debbie turned her personal challenge and the upheaval of her life into a positive force to create a better future for people diagnosed with stomach cancer. She has been the subject of many news stories, TV interviews, and radio interviews. In January 2012 she appeared on the Dr. Oz show in an episode titled “The Cancer That is Eating You Alive: Stomach Cancer.”
She was appointed to several committees for clinical trials and as a patient advocate, including for the National Cancer Institute, the American Society of Clinical Oncology, the American Society of Clinical Pathology, the College of American Pathology, the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, and many more.
Throughout the years, Debbie has been honored and nominated by many organizations for her humanitarian efforts to rid the world of gastric cancer, for being an outstanding leader and advocate, and a phenomenal woman and mother.
Debbie passed away on December 23, 2017 after nearly a decade of advocacy on behalf of stomach cancer patients, their families, and caregivers worldwide. She is survived by her husband Andrew; her twins, Rachel and Zachary; her daughter Sarah; her parents Madelyn and Dr. Donald Zelman; and her Debbie’s Dream Foundation. Through DDF and the countless lives she has touched throughout her journey, Debbie’s mission to find a cure for stomach cancer continues.
To read more about Debbie’s courageous cancer journey, you can still vist her Caring Bridge blog at http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/debrazelman.
