Dena Edwards Wadden was born and raised in Sydney, NS. She graduated from Cape Breton University’s Bachelor of Science in Nursing program in 2011 and began her work in Emergency Nursing. It was while working here that Dena began recognizing the impact health inequities have on affecting health outcomes. She developed an interest in minimizing barriers her patients faced to optimize their overall care and health outcomes. Dena obtained her Master’s of Nursing – Nurse Practitioner from Dalhousie University in 2016 and has spent the past eight years working as a Nursing Practitioner in Primary Care. She also works as an Assistant Professor of Nursing at Cape Breton University where she can be found excitedly passing on her passion for equitable healthcare to future nurses. In October 2021, Dena’s hat was switched from provider to patient as she was diagnosed with a rare type of ovarian cancer at 33 years of age, four days after her daughter’s second birthday. With no gynecological oncologist in her hometown, much of her care was provided in Halifax (500 km away). After realizing the many barriers that coexist with a cancer diagnosis as well as a lack of awareness surrounding gynecological cancers, she founded an event called Teal to Heal that raises money and awareness surrounding gynecological cancers. Since its creation in 2022, Teal to Heal has raised close to $500,000 and a lot of awareness regarding gynecological cancers. Despite a challenging few years, Dena remains committed to her passions of health promotion, accessible care and health equity. Her work with ovarian cancer awareness earned her a Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Medal for outstanding community service and has been acknowledged in the House of Commons and Nova Scotia legislature for her work surrounding ovarian cancer awareness. Dena lives in Sydney River with her husband, Mike, four-year-old daughter Myka and dog, Blue.