VALERIE NELSON, M.D. – NORTHWESTERN MEDICAL ONCOLOGY, LAKE FOREST HOSPITAL AND GLENVIEW OUTPATIENT CENTER

SPECIALTY: Hematology/Oncology

EDUCATION: B.S., Psychology, University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana; M.D., University of Chicago, Pritzker School of Medicine; MBA, University of Chicago Booth School of Business; residency, Internal Medicine, McGaw Medical Center of Northwestern University; fellowship, Hematology/Oncology, McGaw Medical Center of Northwestern University

AWARDS/HONORS: Chief Fellow, Division of Hematology/ Oncology, Northwestern University; Resident Teaching Award, Feinberg School of Medicine; Steven J. Weiner Merit-Based Scholarship; Bronze Tablet Scholar, University of Illinois (top 3 percent of graduating class)

Dr. Valerie Nelson, Medical Director of Clinical Trials at Northwestern Medical Oncology in Lake Forest Hospital and Glenview Outpatient Center, navigates patients and families through the complexities of cancer care with compassion and understanding. “It is a privilege to help patients and their families through difficult diagnoses so they can be as comfortable as possible with the best quality of life possible,” she says. “Thankfully, the majority of cancers can be either cured or made to be chronic diseases that we can successfully treat while maintaining excellent quality of life for our patients.”

As a hematologist and medical oncologist, she has witnessed the power of immunotherapy. “For many patients, immunotherapy does not have many side effects,” she says. “Now is a wonderful time to be an oncologist because new cancer treatments improve our patients’ cancer outcomes every year.” Known for her honesty, she ensures her patients are informed and empowered. “I am flexible in my thinking and am very happy to meet my patients where they are,” she says. “I am a guide on their unwanted cancer journey—here to help them make the best decision about their care rather than to dictate what we should or should not do for treatment.”