living her best life #45: a survivor…

While perusing The Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation’s website, bells and whistles went off in my head when I saw the following.

The Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation (MMRF) was established in 1998 as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization by identical twin sisters Kathy Giusti and Karen Andrews soon after Kathy’s diagnosis of multiple myeloma. Kathy’s need was urgent. She was looking for a cure.

Finding that the current system was not optimized for speed, she changed it.

About Kathy Giusti

Kathy Giusti, a multiple myeloma patient, is the Founder of and Executive Chairwoman of the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation (MMRF) and the Multiple Myeloma Research Consortium (MMRC). She also has more than two decades of experience in the pharmaceutical industry, previously holding senior positions at G.D. Searle and Merck.

Since founding the MMRF in 1998, Giusti has led the Foundation in establishing collaborative research models in the areas of tissue banking, genomics and clinical trials. These models have dramatically accelerated the pace at which lifesaving treatments are brought to patients and improved our understanding of the disease’s biological underpinnings. Today Giusti is widely recognized as a champion of open-access data sharing and a strong advocate for patient engagement, not only in their cancer care, but as part of the research and drug development process.

Giusti’s visionary leadership has earned her a number of prestigious awards and recognitions. Most recently, she was ranked #19 on Fortune Magazine’s Worlds’ 50 Greatest Leaders. In 2013, she was named an Open Science Champion of Change by the White House. In 2011, she was named to the TIME 100 List of the world’s most influential people. She has also received the American Association for Cancer Research Centennial Medal for Distinguished Public Service, the Harvard Business School Alumni Achievement Award, and the Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association’s Woman of the Year Award.

Giusti has been featured on the Today Show, NBC Nightly News, CBS Evening News, Fox News, CNN, and Bloomberg. Her efforts have also been profiled by The Wall Street Journal, The New Yorker, Harvard Business Review, The New York Times, Forbes, WIRED, and Fast Company.

Giusti currently serves on the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, the Executive Management Committee of Stand Up to Cancer, and the Harvard Business School Healthcare Advisory Board. She has previously served on several other boards, including the National Cancer Advisory Board, the Institute of Medicine’s National Cancer Policy Board, and the Board of Directors for IMS Health.

Giusti received her MBA in general management from Harvard Business School and graduated from the University of Vermont magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Science in Biological Sciences. She holds an honorary Doctorate from the University of Vermont.