A Patient’s Voice in the Future of Medicine
Twelve Years. Seven Treatments. One Breakthrough.
Laurie Adami is an official spokesperson for California Proposition 38, the $8.4 billion Immunology, Medical Research and Cures Initiative on the November 2026 ballot.
As a CAR-T cell therapy survivor and patient advocate, she is lending her voice to the effort to protect and expand funding for the medical research that saves lives like hers.
For more information about California Proposition 38:
Read the nonpartisan analysis from the California Legislative Analyst's Office
Laurie Adami spent twelve years living with stage IV follicular lymphoma - navigating relapse after relapse, enrolling in clinical trials, and learning how to move through one of the most complex healthcare systems in the world. She saw four oncologists across four cancer centers. She underwent seven lines of therapy. Finally, in 2018, a CAR-T cell therapy clinical trial at UCLA eliminated her cancer entirely.
The Long Way to Well: One Patient's Journey Through Cancer, Clinical Trials, and the Science That Saved Her Life is a book Laurie has written a book for anyone who has ever felt lost, overwhelmed, or overlooked inside the healthcare system. Part personal narrative, part practical guide, it traces her twelve-year path through diagnosis, relapse, clinical research, and the emerging science of cell and gene therapy, and the hard-won knowledge of how to become an informed and effective advocate for your own care.
Her journey is not just a survival story. It is a detailed, firsthand account of what it takes to stay the course and most importantly, to advocate for yourself. To ask the right questions, push past the moments when you are not heard, and find your way to the treatment and information you need.
Laurie brings that perspective to speaking engagements, panels, and advisory work with healthcare leaders, researchers, and organizations working to put the patient voice at the center of medical innovation.
