We’re thrilled to introduce you to the newest members of Myeloma Canada’s Board of Directors: Lisa Elser and Julie Stakiw.

Between them, Lisa and Julie have tremendous passion and leadership experience in profit and non-profit sectors, as well as impressive professional expertise in law, accounting, finance, strategy, project management, enterprise risk management, medical marketing, sales management and market access in specialty therapeutics and rare diseases.

We’d like to take this opportunity to extend a huge and heartfelt farewell and thank you to Emily Crowe (Director) for her invaluable guidance and contribution over the year.

Best wishes on your next chapter Emily!

Lisa is a retired IT professional who began her career at Bell Labs before leaving research to run international consulting practices for Sun Microsystems in Europe and the US. She spent 25 years in IT and was consulted by some of the largest banks, pharmaceutical companies, and insurance companies in the world. After a successful career, she retired early at age 45. Lisa and her husband then started their own business cutting fine gemstones, which combined their love of travel with her love of gemstones.

Through the business, Lisa has been able to support educational and health initiatives in Tanzania, Madagascar, Nepal, and Sri Lanka. Her husband was diagnosed with myeloma in 2014 and died of the disease in early 2021. Lisa's experiences learning about the disease, drug research, and navigating the healthcare system for her husband led her to seek out opportunities to improve care for other Canadians with myeloma. In addition to Myeloma Canada, Lisa serves on the Clinical Trials BC Advisory Council where she continues to advocate for patients and their families.

Dr Stakiw is a malignant hematologist and stem cell transplant physician with a special interest in myeloma. She is based at the Saskatoon Cancer Center and is an associate professor at the University of Saskatchewan. An active member of the Canadian Myeloma Research Group (CMRG), Dr Stakiw also sits on the CMRG Database Steering committee.

Dr Stakiw's research interests include health equity with a specific focus on First Nations and Métis patients with myeloma.

Julie recently finished her term as the Medical Director of the Saskatoon Cancer Center and was previously the Provincial Head of Hematology for Saskatchewan.