Dr. Dawn Mussallem is a board-certified Lifestyle Medicine Physician at the Mayo Clinic Jacoby Center for Breast Health where she works with breast cancer patients during and after their diagnosis to heal and thrive using the pillars of lifestyle medicine alongside their conventional cancer treatments.
Dawn has many remarkable stories of patient recovery, but the biggest recovery story of all is her own. You see, in addition to being a physician, teacher, wife, and mother, Mussallem is also a cancer survivor, 2021 heart transplant recipient, and as of February 2022, she's also a marathon finisher!
It's a story you simply have to hear to believe and her passion and positivity will leave a lasting impact. Not only does she acknowledge her family and faith in this decades-long journey, but she also credits her whole foods plant-based diet with her ability to thrive and train with a renewed sense of purpose and boundless energy. It's a life force she brings both to her life and the lives of the patients she works with on a daily basis.
About Dawn Mussallem, DO
Dr. Mussallem is a consultant in the Department of General Internal Medicine at Mayo Clinic and is an Assistant Professor of Medicine. She is a diagnostic breast specialist at The Robert and Monica Jacoby Center for Breast Health and serves as Medical Director for Mayo Clinic Florida Lyndra P. Daniel Center for Humanities in Medicine. Dr. Mussallem is double-board certified, including a board certification in Lifestyle Medicine. She has over 25 years of patient-centered clinical wellness experience with international recognition in the field of breast medicine, lifestyle medicine, integrative oncology, cancer prevention, and cancer survivorship, and a unique personal experience as a stage IV cancer patient diagnosed 3 months into medical school, as well as a heart transplant recipient. She shares that her journey as a patient cultivated her boundless energy and deep purpose to help guide patients toward renewed vitality. In 2015, she founded the Integrative Medicine and Breast Health Program at Mayo Clinic Florida, a patient-centered program that works with breast cancer patients during and after a breast cancer diagnosis, introducing them early on to the importance of lifestyle optimization and evidence-based mind-body practices alongside conventional cancer treatments with a goal to reframe the cancer diagnosis as a “teacher of life,” leading patients to discover renewed vitality through healthier living.
Episode Resources
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Mayo Clinic News Network Story on Dawn
Dawn's Journey from Cancer Survivor to Heart Transplant Recipient
Running to a New Beat - Heart transplant recipient to mark 1-year anniversary with marathon
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Theme Music for Episode
Ep. 183: D. Anthony Evans - Embracing the Pain in Order to Live
Ep. 182: John Tanner, PhD - In a Heartbeat, from Death to Plants
Ep. 181: Pinky Cole, The Slutty Vegan, is Blowing Meat Lovin' Minds
Ep. 180: Are Coconuts a Plantstrong Food?
Ep. 179: Dominick Thompson - Eat What Elephants Eat
Ep. 178: Dr. Uma Naidoo - This is Your Brain on Food
Ep. 177: Let's Get Moving! Rip Explains the Real Benefits of Exercise
Ep. 176: BONUS - Dr. Zachary Burns - Moving Medicine Forward with the Plant-Based Physicians of Tomorrow
Ep. 175: Dr. John McDougall - Truth Bombs and Starches for the Win
Ep. 174: Paul Chatlin - Broccoli Over A Bypass Saved This Man's Life
Ep. 173: Dan Buettner - Exploring The Blue Zones American Kitchen
PLANTSTRONG and Switch4Good Cross-Over - From Binge Eater To An Ultra-Runner With Ryan Duff
Ep. 172: Dr. Kristi Funk - Eat Plants, Crush Cancer
Happy Friendsgiving - Keeping the Holidays PLANTSTRONG
Ep. 170: Hellah Sidibe - Running Across America and Into our Hearts
Ep. 169: Dr. Caldwell B. Esselstyn - Should You Drink Your Greens?
Ep. 168: Robynne Chutkan, MD: Dirt, Sweat, and Veggies - To Fortify Your Gut
Ep. 167: The Mediterranean Diet Done Right with Debbie Adler
Ep. 166: Dr. Yami - How to Love Your Body and Plantstrong Food at Any Age
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