About Seize The Days
The concept for Seize the Days was inspired by a single conversation around 2010.
Dr. Evan Lipson, a Baltimore oncologist, was caring for Jeff, a 65-year-old man newly diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Jeff had a contagious enthusiasm for life — a head full of stories and philosophers’ quotes, and a gift for putting everyone around him at ease, even in an exam room. About four months into chemotherapy, he said something Dr. Lipson has never forgotten:
“I used to think the best way to die was in your sleep. But I’ve changed my mind.”
His illness, Jeff explained, had given him something unexpected: the chance to prepare. Time to speak to his wife in ways he never had. Permission to let friends and family help him. The grace to feel the kindness of strangers. There was no recorder in the room that day. Dr. Lipson wrote Jeff’s words down on a scrap of paper so he wouldn’t lose them.
Then came Mike, a man in his sixties who had always meant to see the Grand Canyon “someday.” After his diagnosis, someday became now — and he went. He didn’t stop there. He took lessons and learned to play the steel drum. He laid a stone patio in his own backyard, piece by piece, so his family would have a place to gather long after he was gone. This time, Dr. Lipson recorded Mike telling the story in his own voice.
As the stories kept coming, Dr. Lipson realized their power. Together, they began to form a kind of master class in how to make the most of every day. So that any patient, any family, any clinician, anywhere, could share in this growing Library of Inspiration, Dr. Lipson founded Seize the Days, Inc., which is dedicated to preserving these voices and sharing the ways people touched by cancer add life to their days.
Our Mission
Seize the Days’ mission is to improve the lives of patients and families touched by cancer by helping them find pursuits that bring purpose, meaning, and joy.
Inspire.
Give patients and families an idea of what’s possible after a diagnosis.
Improve care.
Help clinicians prescribe joy by understanding what their patients value and planning treatment around a whole life.
Center people.
Keep real patient experiences at the center of research and industry, in rooms too often focused on policy, prescriptions, or data.
Our Team
Dr. Evan Lipson
Founder, President & Podcast Co-Host
Dr. Evan Lipson founded Seize the Days in 2010. He is an oncologist and cancer researcher at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, MD. Caring for patients whose lives were upended by cancer, he kept hearing about what they were doing: pursuing long-held passions, deepening relationships, finding new sources of meaning. Recording those stories, he says, changed the way he practices medicine: He ensures that the cutting-edge cancer therapies he prescribes harmonize with his patients’ pursuits that bring them meaning and fulfillment. He calls it “prescribing joy.”
Cathy Becker
Executive Director & Podcast Host
Cathy Becker is the Executive Director of Seize the Days and host of the Seize the Days Podcast. A healthcare communication and engagement strategist, she has spent her career helping scientists, clinicians, and innovators turn complex ideas into stories that resonate with the people they affect. She brings a background in communication coaching, facilitation, and performance to every conversation. Seize the Days joins two of her deepest commitments: healthcare and the power of storytelling.
Nate Carper
Head of Production
Nate Carper is the Head of Production for Seize the Days, where he records, edits, and produces the stories and the podcast. Through his studio, Nate Carper Creative, he brings deep experience in audio and a belief in storytelling’s power to connect people. His commitment is personal: cancer has touched his own family. He hopes these stories help build a supportive community for everyone navigating a diagnosis.
Ian MacAllen
Web Design
Ian MacAllen leads web design for Seize the Days. He is the founder of Design Is The Message, a boutique digital design agency. He is also a writer and critic, and the author of Red Sauce: How Italian Food Became American. After cancer impacted his family, her learned the value of seizing every day. He lives in Brooklyn with his wife and son.
