Joann Sweasy grew up in the Roman Catholic Church near Philadelphia. She has been an Episcopalian and “Recovering Roman” since about 2005, and was first a parishioner at St. Peter’s Church in Monroe, Connecticut, before moving north and joining St. Thomas’s. She has served on the vestry and has been an usher for the past five years.  Joann is a professor at the Yale Medical School, where she runs a laboratory that focuses on cancer research and, more recently, on lupus.  She is also a member of the senior leadership of the Yale Cancer Center. Joann’s daughter, Katherine, is currently a freshman at Bryn Mawr College in Philadelphia. Joann lives in Guilford with her partner, Al, and their calico cat, Jenny.