Sharon Curran, RN, MS

Program Specialist, Young Adult Patient Navigation Program

Sharon Curran graduated from Towson University with a degree focused on health and education. She married soon after college and began her family while working at a St Joseph Medical Center in medical & nursing staff support positions. Within a few years, Sharon knew she wanted to return to school to become a nurse. With the help of her family and her three young children’s support, she attended and graduated from the University of Maryland School of Nursing three years later. While working as a psychiatric and mental health nurse she discovered her passion for supporting those living with chronic illness. 

Sharon has been touched by cancer through her son and father’s cancer experience.  Sharon’s son Cary was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma at age 20 in 2004 and is doing great today. Her father lost his battle with Melanoma four years later in 2008.

1) How did you become involved with the UCF?

In the Fall of 2005, as a component of my graduate school work at Towson University’s Master in Nursing Program, I sought to partner with an organization to create a community-based program of support for young adults affected by cancer. While sitting with my son at an oncology follow-up appointment I read an article about Doug Ulman and the UCF.  I called them the same day and became a volunteer upon meeting so many creative, hard working, and inspiring young adults on the UCF team.   

I earned the MS in Nursing in 2006 and have been working as a Clinical Assistant Professor of Nursing at Towson University since that time. I have devoted my University supported scholarship and service work to the UCF, as a volunteer and a presenter at local, national and international conferences.  Over the past six years, I have partnered with the UCF on projects such as Cancer Unplugged and Young Adults Embracing Survivorship. I have worked as a volunteer assisting the UCF Navigator at the University of Maryland’s Greenbaum Cancer Center.  Additionally, I have been instrumental in promoting the UCF on the Towson University Campus through WTMD radio interviews and am working to initiate a on-campus support group through a partnership with the UCF and the TU Towson Counseling Center. Through my engagement with the UCF , I have also had the opportunity to serve as a member of the Maryland Comprehensive Cancer Control Plan’s Patient Issues and Survivorship Committee and  on the LIVESTRONG Young Adult Alliance’s Awareness Task Force.

 2) Outside of working at UCF, what’s your idle wish dream job?

Well, I must confess that I have always wanted to be a back-up singer for a great band. I do not know if I would truly enjoy the tour bus & party lifestyle, as I am a bit of a homebody! An alternate, would be to work and live somewhere on the waterfront. I am drawn to water and the outdoors! As it is, I am very happy to be teaching young adults at Towson University and supporting young adults through UCF work.

3) What is your favorite moment working at the UCF?

Working to plan and implement Cancer Unplugged was truly an honor for me. My proudest moment, therefore a favorite, was when my son Cary, a young adult cancer survivor, spoke at Cancer Unplugged. I believe that both Cary and I together truly benefitted from that experience. I think that it puts into words the feelings we experienced when we spent so much time together during and after his diagnosis and treatment. I must say, it was truly awesome to be recognized with the Volunteer Service Award in 2010. I feel the UCF fund has done as much for me as I may have done for them.

4) What do you do when you’re not working?

With three children grown and out of the house, life is not quite as exciting at home…but a mother is always a mother and I try to talk to my kids every day.  I enjoy cooking for my husband because he appreciates it so much. I love to swim anywhere…pools, lakes, oceans. I love listening to music, I read, novels, and I like sketching portraits of people in my life.