From Cancer Researcher to Survivor to Advocate to Pageant Winner

Rutgers University–Newark alumna Victoria Ramirez’s cancer survival story is a remarkable journey. A supporter of the Rutgers Cancer Institute, she advocates for the American Cancer Society and has started a company that makes comfortable gowns for cancer patients.

Victoria Ramirez never dreamed of competing in a pageant—until she recovered from triple negative breast cancer, the most aggressive form of the disease.

Ramirez, a clinical research manager who earned her bachelor’s and master’s at Rutgers–Newark’s School of Public Affairs and Administration, began battling cancer in June 2023 after discovering a lump. She underwent fertility preservation before receiving 16 rounds of chemotherapy over “five grueling months,” followed by a double mastectomy.

“I lost my hair, and my body changed,” she says. “With my surgery, I felt different and I wanted to challenge myself to do something that I would’ve never done before.”

That new challenge was to enter the 2025 Ms. New Jersey International Pageant.

Ramirez, who in 2024 was named a legislative ambassador for the American Cancer Society and testified during a New Jersey Assembly Appropriations Committee hearing in December, said she chose the Ms. New Jersey International Pageant because advocacy was a major part of the criteria. She wanted to continue to be a champion for early detection, survivorship, and the importance of healthcare and assistance for those with cancer.

“I felt that I could talk about my story and what I advocate for,” she says. “At the same time, I could show the world that if you’re in remission, this is what cancer could look like after facing the hardest year of your life. I share my story for others that can’t share their stories.”

In March, she was crowned Ms. New Jersey International 2025. “It was my first one and I won,” she says. “Everyone was shocked!”

Ramirez says she doesn’t plan to compete in future pageants, but will now focus her energy on her career, her advocacy, and My Batta, a business she has started that makes comfortable gowns for women going through recovery.

“I’m passionate about using my story to raise awareness, particularly for young women and women of color,” Ramirez wrote on the Surviving Breast Cancer blog. “I hope to use my voice to empower others to pay attention to their bodies and prioritize their health.”

Rutgers Roots

After graduating from Paramus Catholic High School in 2010, Ramirez, who was born in New York but raised in North Jersey, enrolled at Rutgers–Newark. She was following in her father’s Rutgers footsteps. Her dad, James Wilson Jr., earned a psychology degree at Rutgers College in New Brunswick in 1990.

She embraced opportunities on campus and explored her interest in public health issues, connecting with a program with the United Nations and also landing an internship with Engender Health, a nonprofit that helped women internationally, primarily in Africa, with health disparities. After completing her undergraduate degree in public and nonprofit administration, she went on to earn a master of public administration degree in 2017.

“I wrote my thesis for my master’s on breast cancer disparities on women with health insurance versus without health insurance—not knowing that I one day would be diagnosed with breast cancer,” she says. “I didn’t have any history of breast cancer in my family.”

She has worked since graduation as a clinical research manager, and her first role was in clinical research in breast oncology. She now works for a Japanese biopharmaceutical company that focuses on rare diseases.

She looks back on her time at Rutgers–Newark with great fondness for the community she enjoyed there. Recently, she had lunch with two friends and fellow alumna whom she studied with in Cuba through a Rutgers program about ten years ago. “We are like family now,” she says.

Ramirez says that her Rutgers connections extend far beyond friends from her classes.

“Whenever I meet a Rutgers alum, I feel like they understand what being part of the Rutgers community is and what it’s made us as people and what we stand for,” she says.

In Search of a Comfortable Gown for Cancer Patients

Ramirez’s initiative to make gowns began when she was recovering from surgery and was unhappy with available clothing choices that did not adapt to the drains she had to wear.

“I had two drains on each side after surgery, and a belt that was very uncomfortable,” she says.

She chose to wear a bata, which is Spanish for a sleeveless nightgown and a common item in Hispanic cultures in warm climates.

“When I was halfway through recovery, I told my mom, ‘Why isn’t there something like this online? Why isn’t there a sleeveless gown that has drain pockets?’”

Her mother responded, “Why don’t you make a gown yourself?” Ramirez says. “I said, ‘I don’t know anything about fashion.’ She said, ‘You’re a researcher.’ So the rest of the time during my recovery, I just spent researching manufacturers, researching how to do tech packs, researching fabric.”

After fully immersing herself in how to make the type of gown she wanted, she turned research into reality when she launched her business and introduced her first gown in September.

“I've been working with hospitals throughout New Jersey,” she says. “The Rutgers Cancer Institute was the first hospital to have the gown and give it to patients. I was able to donate gowns and patients have used it.”

Ramirez said she was excited to learn more about the Rutgers Cancer Institute, and encourages other Rutgers alumni to support it.

“Rutgers alumni should support the Cancer Institute because of the groundbreaking research and its lifesaving treatment to patients across New Jersey and beyond,” she says. “Support of the Cancer Institute directly fuels innovation, education, and hope in the fight against cancer.”

June is National Cancer Survivors Month. Rutgers alumni are encouraged to complete a form to send a pair of socks to a cancer patient, volunteer at the Rutgers Cancer Institute, and consider making a gift.

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