Every data point has a face: What Michael Becker taught us

Michael Becker was a biotech executive before he was a patient advocate. When he discovered he had head and neck cancer, he decided to go public, and in doing so made an impact — both within the drug industry and beyond.

Cancer, Becker once said, takes away a lot more than it gives. But he wanted his own experience to show people the risks of the human papillomavirus, which caused his disease,, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In total, the HPV virus is estimated to cause 34,000 cancers annually, including cancers of the cervix and genitals.