MMRF CANCER FIGHTERS
Meet the MMRF staff members moving us closer to curing cancer every day ...
KAREN DIETZ
In-house Legal Counsel
Charged with ensuring patient data remains secure , providing the legal backbone for the MMRF ’ s numerous collaborations and protecting the MMRF ’ s intellectual property , Karen finds great gratification knowing that her work helps patients receive new treatments faster . She spends much of her workday managing compliancerelated matters , corporate governance for the Foundation and handling legal contract negotiations . Asked what makes her most optimistic about the future , she said , “ We ’ ve now identified several multiple myeloma subtypes and with our precision medicine model we ’ re learning more every day on how to get the right treatment to the right patients at the right time .”
ANDREA KIRCHHOFF
Associate Director of Finance
With experience in financial services and job costing , Andrea is well suited for her role ensuring that the MMRF grants and donations find their way from the contributors to the various research and education initiatives the MMRF undertakes on behalf of myeloma patients . With a keen knowledge of how the various departments and groups within the MMRF participate in the research process , Andrea enjoys watching the integrated efforts of the organization drive progress . “ There ’ s so much exciting work going on right now . Between immunotherapy and novel mechanisms , rethinking — and speeding up — the entire trials process , and providing more tools and opportunities for patients to take an active role in their cancer journey , we find ourselves very busy and very optimistic about the future .”
KILEY TAYLOR
MMRF Signature Events Manager
With a background in public relations , Kiley is one of the managers of the MMRF ’ s three big fundraising events that together raise over $ 4M . This money is used to fund the Foundation ’ s many research initiatives . Watching her grandmother battle five different cancers and knowing her grandfather died from multiple myeloma , Kiley understands firsthand the importance of the work the MMRF is doing . She is particularly proud of the speed at which the MMRF has been able to bring drugs to market . “ I keep every email , every card and every letter than is sent to me as a reminder of how important the work we are doing is . It ’ s the people we are able to help that motivate me to work harder and to bring my best self to the office every day .”
C A N C E R F I G H T E R S
KAREN WOOLEY
Clinical Operations Manager
Having spent 20 years in clinical research at such esteemed entities as the Sloan Kettering Cancer Center , Forrest Labs and Pfizer , Karen brings the right experience to her role as clinical operations manager . At the MMRF , she works daily to ensure strong collaborative relationships between the MMRF ’ s consortium sites and our pharma partners , assisting in the opening of new trials and managing the ongoing ones . “ Accelerating drug development is a big part of our mission . Improving the efficiency of this process — from opening to completion — is how we get that done ,” she says . “ I ’ m particularly excited about our larger umbrella trials that test multiple drugs at one time . It ’ s a far more efficient way of conducting clinical work .”
ACCELERATOR • WINTER 2016 19