On December 8, Myeloma Canada was in Toronto to honour the work of Ellen Church, RN, (C) OCN, as a Myeloma Clinical Nurse at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre. Ellen received the Marion State Memorial Myeloma Canada Nursing Award recognizing Canadian nurses who demonstrate excellence in nursing care through leadership, teamwork, passion and commitment to advancing the care of myeloma patients.

Ellen recently celebrated 32 years with the University Health Network, including the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre (PMCC) and the Toronto General Hospital. In the 1980s, she was privileged to be part of the first stem cell transplant in Toronto. In her career, she’s had a variety of experiences in clinical research and in other oncology fields, including lung cancer, breast cancer, and central nervous system cancer.

Ellen Church with Michelle Oana, Associate Director of Development and Communications at Myeloma Canada

Ellen is appreciated by all the patients and caregivers to which she provides support and care. Her dedication to her work and to myeloma made her an excellent reference for the Toronto and District Multiple Myeloma Support Group where she led presentation and group discussions on two occasions.

Ellen is an Oncology Certified Nurse (OCN); an international designation for nurses who developed and demonstrated their oncology nursing knowledge. She has also been an active member of the Celgene Nursing Advisory Board.

Marion State was also one of Ellen’s patients for many years. Ellen, congratulations for this well-deserved award and thank you for your tremendous work. You are certainly honouring Marion’s memory.