Board of Directors
The Prostate Forum of Orange County is one of largest, independent, and growing Prostate Cancer support groups. Our mission is to offer help and hope to men by providing prostate health information. The Forum is generously supported by our volunteer Board of Directors who help to set the strategic direction of the Forum and provide support and guidance.
We are thankful for the dedication and commitment our Board continues to provide. Originally established in 1992, our Board of Directors is comprised of men who are motivated, involved, analytical, practical and who have broad experience in different professional careers. The current 4 directors, plus 2 significant advisors bring broad vision to develop, and achieve the group’s objectives and provide different perspectives for guidance and oversight to reach our goals.
The Board of Directors are essential in providing leadership, review and direction. It is their active involvement, volunteering many hours in significant activity which permits the Forum to continue our valuable community contribution, and grow.
Board of Directors
Neal Berke - Chief Executive Officer; Chairman
Charles K. Metzger, M.D., M.B.A., (retired), Executive Vice President
Ira Kaget, Secretary
Jim Bothwell, Chief Financial Officer / Treasurer
Brian McEvoy, Chief Technical officer
Board of Advisors
Steve Adamson, Advisor
Francis Gilbert, Advisor
Offering help and hope to men by providing prostate health information
We need your help!
A serious need continues for volunteers to share the many tasks necessary to produce an interesting and valuable experience but it is the Board members who end up taking care of continuing jobs. Volunteers are solicited; they could even serve for a short term on temporary assignments, if that were all the time they could spare. Anyone wishing to help is welcome.
Our Founders
The Prostate Forum was founded by Bill Dehn, (now deceased, of ALS) and Murray Corwin, who is a Prostate Cancer survivor. Bill and Murray met in 1991 at a hospital support group meeting. They went to the meeting to pass out general information based on their own personal experiences and they were asked not to return. In December 1991, they decided to start an independent group of their own which would have the freedom to speak about and discuss the disease without any censorship or restrictions. In March 1992, they had a meeting place, a flyer, and a core group of thirteen men!
Murray continues to help the board and is actively involved in collecting and sharing current prostate cancer information to our community. He was diagnosed in 1991 with very early stage prostate cancer and had several differing pathology opinions, leading him to research, as much as an informed medical lay-person can, at the medical libraries. Armed with some knowledge, he also participated in a local hospitals support group and quickly realized that most men diagnosed with Prostate Cancer had very little knowledge of their illness or their options. He exercised very careful, active "observation", now termed "active surveillance" until in 1993 with a sudden rise in PSA velocity, Murray chose a treatment of: 4 months Complete Hormonal Blockade, then a 40% dose by Proton beam radiation at Loma Linda, followed by 60% pelvic radiation dose by Linear Accelerator at a local hospital. Results were excellent and no further treatment has been needed.
Murray is retired from Aerospace, as an Electronic Engineer, Project Manager and finally in Human Resources as Manager of "Employee Development" and training. He was also Director of Ethics for the corporation. Murray is a founding member of the National Prostate Cancer Coalition (NPCC) as well as of the California Prostate Cancer Coalition (CPCC) continuing as a Director on their Board. Collecting and sharing current prostate information occupies most of his time currently.
Bill Dehn was diagnosed at an early stage and was treated in 1985. His first urologist’s recommendation for a radical prostatectomy at age 62 was unacceptable. A third opinion resulted in the unforgettable words: "You don’t have to pay the price of a radical - you are a candidate for radioactive seed implantation". After a week of researching medical journals at UCI Medical Library, Bill decided to go to Sloan-Kettering Memorial Hospital in New York, where they had pioneered this technique. A successful implanting of Iodine-125 by the old-fashioned open body method kept his cancer under control. Bill was one of the most respected activists on the prostate cancer scene with national recognition of his many extraordinary accomplishments.
In 2001, Bill passed away, not from prostate cancer, but from Lou Gehrig’s disease (ALS). Bill was a founding member of the National Prostate Cancer Coalition (NPCC) as well as of the California Prostate Cancer Coalition (CPCC) and was a Director on their Board until his passing.