The Pulmonary Hypertension Association of Canada (PHA Canada) is pleased to announce that the Board of Directors elected Roberta Massender as their new Board Chair. Massender will serve for a one-year term effective May 26, 2019. She succeeds Dr. Sanjay Mehta who served as chair since 2013. Dr. Mehta will continue to serve on the Board of Directors in the role of Past Chair and Treasurer.
“After five years as Chair it is now the right time for me to step back and let others take the lead,” said Dr. Mehta. “We’ve moved into a new decade of our history with renewed energy and purpose. And I am very confident that under Roberta’s leadership, the PHA Canada Board will continue to positively drive us towards our vision of a better life for all Canadians affected by PH.”
The PHA Canada Board of Directors also elected Ed Rathonyi as the new board vice chair. Rathonyi is the parent of a young child living with PH and a strong advocate for the national PH community.
Further Updates from the 2019 AGM:
Click here to view an updated organizational chart of PHA Canada.
- The Canadian PH Medical Committee, or CPHMC (previously known as MAC), welcomed their new Chair, Dr. John Swiston. The committee, which is made up of PH physicians and researchers from across Canada, will now have three new sub-committees aimed at targeting specific areas of development: Programs, Research, and Education.
- Two new Directors have joined PHA Canada’s Board; Emily Pinckard and John Pettifor. In addition to her personal experience as a CTEPH patient, Emily Pinckard from Toronto (ON) also brings both her legal background and volunteer experience in governance-related roles to PHA Canada. John Pettifor—originally from the United Kingdom—has a close connection to PH having lost his mother to the illness in the early 90s. His brother was then also diagnosed as having PH in 2013.
- The Board of Directors—joined by the operational staff—have begun to review the continued strategic goals for the period of 2020-2023. The refreshed strategic plan will set out PHA Canada’s path for the coming years in pursuit of its vision of a better life for all Canadians affected by pulmonary hypertension.
For inquiries, please contact:
Michaël Robach
PHA Canada
Communications & Engagement Coordinator
mrobach@phacanada.ca
604-682-1036 (ext. 102) / 1-877-774-2226 (ext. 102)