Honoring Tom Bajoras and the Music He Shared With Our Community
- NCF Team
- 6 days ago
- 3 min read
The Neuroendocrine Cancer Foundation ("NCF") is deeply saddened by the passing of Tom Bajoras, a beloved member of our community, a neuroendocrine cancer patient, musician, composer, advocate, and friend whose music and spirit touched so many.
Tom passed away peacefully after living with neuroendocrine cancer for more than eleven years. In a message to the NCF community, his wife, Lisa Yen, NP, NBC-HWC, shared that Tom was “the kindest, gentlest soul — funny, generous, and endlessly creative,” someone who “found beauty in the ordinary and gave it back to the world.”
For many in the neuroendocrine cancer community, Tom was known not only as Lisa’s husband, but as a gifted artist who brought comfort, reflection, and beauty to others through music. Tom had a long career in music production and recording, and after his diagnosis in 2015, he continued to create music with depth, meaning, and generosity. At the 2023 NET Cancer Day Symposium in Santa Monica, the event culminated in a special celebration featuring Tom’s piano concert, where he shared original pieces composed throughout his NET journey along with stories of hope and resilience.
Tom’s contributions to the neuroendocrine cancer community often happened quietly, behind the scenes. He composed the music for the intro and closing of the NCF podcast, contributed his studio time for recording, and edited each podcast episode with care. During the 2023 award ceremony, he described podcast editing as “like doing a jigsaw puzzle” — a meaningful way of bringing sound, story, and purpose together.
That same year, Tom received the Giovanna Joyce Imbesi Above & Beyond Award, an honor recognizing outstanding dedication to NET patient advocacy and the values of excellence, awareness, and hope. The award was especially meaningful because Giovanna, the late founder of NCF (then LACNETS), was also a composer and pianist who understood the healing and connective power of music.
In accepting the award, Tom reflected that early in his diagnosis, around 2015, he had written down a list of what he hoped to do with the rest of his life. One item on that list was to “somehow serve the NET community.” Through his music, podcast work, generosity, and presence, Tom did exactly that. He served in ways both seen and unseen, offering encouragement, artistry, and connection to patients and caregivers navigating their own journeys.
Tom embodied the spirit of the Above & Beyond Award through the awareness he raised, the hope he offered, and the meaningful connection he created through music. His legacy will continue to resonate throughout the neuroendocrine cancer community.
We also hold close Lisa Yen, Tom’s wife and NCF’s Director of Programs & Outreach. Lisa has served the NET community with extraordinary compassion, expertise, and dedication, bringing both her background as a nurse practitioner and her lived experience as Tom’s caregiver to her work. Through her leadership, she has helped shape many of NCF’s patient and caregiver programs, educational resources, support groups, and community initiatives.
As we remember Tom, we honor a life marked by creativity, kindness, humility, and service. We are grateful for the music he shared, the journey he offered and the love he brought into this community.
In lieu of flowers, Lisa and family ask that donations in Tom’s memory may be made to the Neuroendocrine Cancer Foundation at NCF.net/donate.
If you are interested in attending the Celebration of Life for Tom on July 27th in California, please contact Kavya Velagapudi at kavya.velagapudi@gmail.com. You can also join virtually at https://www.youtube.com/live/DvJuN9s7l8g.
With gratitude and remembrance,
The Neuroendocrine Cancer Foundation Staff & Board