From Classroom Tests to Clinical Trials, Former Teacher Now Educates Patients
For 10 years, Tina Swartzlander thrived in the classroom. A first grade teacher, she helped countless students learn to read and write. It was a career she never thought she would leave, but an unexpected tragedy led her life in a new direction last year.
Although Swartzlander is still a teacher of sorts, it’s a different kind. Her classroom is an exam room. Her students are cancer patients and their families. She is a clinical trial coordinator, guiding patients who have signed up for an experimental treatment, many times as a last option for a cure.
“I get to meet all sorts of people, and when they tell me their stories, I always tell them where I was and why I am here,” Swartzlander said. “I was a teacher before, and I am here for personal reasons, and that has led me to meeting you.”
Tina Swartzlander's husband, Matt, died at the age of 46 from melanoma. He loved his job working at Moffitt as an infusion nurse, and after his death Tina wanted to find a way to give back to the cancer center.
Her personal reason is her husband, Matt. An infusion nurse at Moffitt, he died from melanoma in 2020 at age 46.
Swartzlander felt compelled to give back to Moffitt and honor her husband’s love for the cancer center, so she started by forming a Miles for Moffitt team. The team, named On the Brink after Matt’s nickname, has since raised almost $15,000. But Swartzlander still didn’t feel fully satisfied.
“I decided I wanted to make a change. I wanted to do more,” she said.
In 2023, she saw an opening for a clinical trial coordinator position in Moffitt’s Immune Cell Therapy Program and nervously applied and interviewed.
“When I read the job description, I felt like I didn’t have any kind of background, but I knew that I could learn,” Swartzlander said. “I had taught kids to do things. I have the capacity to learn and teach myself how to do a job like this. I just went for it.”
While learning all the different diseases and treatment took some time, speaking to patients and their families came easily to Swartzlander.
“I knew how to approach patients as far as how to speak to someone if I was in their position because there were a lot of times I thought about questions I would have asked myself for Matt,” she said.
The first trial Swartzlander worked on was for a new gene therapy for synovial sarcoma. She helped complete the audit for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration that led to the approval of Tecelra this August to treat the rare disease.
“I was really emotional when it was done because I thought for the first time I might have done something that was impactful for someone else,” she said. “For me, when my students could read and understand text, that was really important and impactful for me because I knew I made a difference in their life. When I finished the trial and the FDA audit, I knew that was impactful for someone who didn’t make it into a trial. Now it would become standard of care for others.”
Swartzlander is now completing a master’s program in health care administration at the University of Arizona through Moffitt’s tuition assistance program. She is a full-time employee and student, taking classes and studying on nights and weekends.
At the heart of everything she does is Matt. He wasn’t eligible for a clinical trial, but Swartzlander finds joy helping other patients get access to potentially life-saving treatment.
“I am here because of him. When my life changed, I knew there were going to be a lot of things about me that changed, and it took me some time to figure out what exactly that was. But Moffitt has given me an opportunity to bring a piece of him with me every day when I come here and make sure people know who he is and why he liked being here at Moffitt.”
