Sunday, 14 November 2010 00:01 Last Updated on Saturday, 23 November 2019 00:07
Aboutus - About us
Lydia E. Neilson, M.S.M.
Founder and Chief Executive Officer
LYDIA E. NEILSON is the Editor of the Quest newsletter and principal fundraiser. She is originally from the Netherlands and spearheaded the Canadian Consensus Documents for both ME/CFS and FM which are known as the Canadian Definitions. She is instrumental in the Network hosting the 10th International IACFS/ME research and clinical conference for ME/CFS, FM and related illnesses in 2011 and was awarded the Governor General's Meritorious Service Medal, Civil Division, in recognition of her achievements that brought benefit or honour to Canada.
Margaret Parlor
President
Margaret Parlor is originally from British Columbia and moved to Ottawa where she worked for the federal government as a statistical, and policy analyst, project and program manager. She has been a community volunteer for many years and became interested in the issues affecting young people with ME/CFS and FM, pressing for changes in the Ontario educational system and plays a major role in affecting changes to same. She is an author in the TEACH-ME Sourcebook for Teachers and Parents of children and youth with ME/CFS and FM.
Dr. Philipa Corning
Director
Dr. Philipa Corning lives in New Brunswick. Having received her Ph. D. in microbiology and environmental studies, she taught science subjects at high school for 5 years and at massage therapy schools/natural health college over a 10 year period. In addition, she served 23 years in the Canadian Forces. Philipa was President of MESH Ottawa (M.E. Self Help). From 1993-2009, she filled the positions of Vice President and Science Director for the National ME/FM Action Network. During this time, Philipa wrote and co-authored several articles for Quest. Now, she participates as one of the Directors.
Judith Day
Director – Atlantic Provinces
Judith Day has been an educator and advocate for people ill from ME/CFS, FM and MCS since 1998 and facilitated a self-help group in Newfoundland and Labrador for five years after medically retiring from thirty-five years in the nursing and education profession. In her role as Director, she has conducted concerts, road tours, radio phone-ins, newspaper interviews and public campaigns to raise awareness for ME/CFS, FM and MCS and is currently involved with research projects for our Network.
Sherri Todd,
Director – British Columbia and Youth Ambassador
Sherri Todd is a native British Columbian, with a professional background in the Entertainment, Law, Police and Health and Wellness fields. Over the years she has worked with people through advocacy, and volunteerism in community service work. Her personal interest in ME/CFS and FM issues has been ongoing for over 2 decades. In 1988 she co-founded and became President of the Myalgic Encephalomyelitis Society of BC (MEBC). In 2000 Sherri left MEBC and joined the National ME/FM Action Network.
Dr. Alison Christine Bested
Medical Advisor
Dr. Alison Christine Bested is Staff Physician and Medical Specialist Liaison at the Environmental Health Clinic of Women's College Hospital. She has a clinical haematology practice specializing in ME/CFS, FM and MCS. She was selected as a panel member by Health Canada for the Consensus Document, ME/CFS Clinical Case Definition, Diagnostic & Treatment Protocols, has been an expert medical witness in court for ME/CFS, FM and MCS, and does frequent educational interviews for television and other media, as well as is a frequent speaker and lecturer.
Dr. Richard Bruno
Medical Advisor
Dr. Richard Bruno is a Clinical Psychophysiologist specializing in Post-Polio Sequelae, and created and directs The Post-Polio Institute and International Centre for Polio Education and Research. His research found that fatigue in polio survivors was associated with clinically impaired attention on neuropsychological testing, a blunted ACTH response to stress and white and gray matter lesions on MRI in the brain's activating system, which is indistinguishable from those in patients with ME/CFS. In 1999, Dr. Bruno performed the first study of the psychophysiology of chronic fatigue in children and adolescents, confirming that chronic fatigue is related to impaired attention that is likely due to brain activating system damage. He served on the Committee on Standards for the Evaluation and Treatment of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and wrote "Rehabilitation of CFS: A Multidisciplinary Approach" for the 2002 Consensus Manual for the Management of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome published by the New Jersey Academy of Medicine as well as other books.
Dr. Leonard Jason
Medical Advisor
Dr. Leonard Jason is a professor of Psychology at DePaul University and the Director of the Center for Community Research. Some of Dr. Jason's numerous awards are the 1997 Distinguished Contributions to Theory and Research, the 2007 Special Contribution to Public Policy by the Society for Community Research and Action, and the 2003 Dutch ME-Foundation award for outstanding work in the field of CFS. Dr. Jason has edited or written 23 books, published over 540 articles and 77 book chapters on ME/CFS, and is a member of the Board of Directors of the International American Association of CFS/ME, the scientific organization in this field. He is currently a member of the Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Advisory Committee, which makes recommendations to the Secretary of Health and Human Services on CFS.
Dr. Eleanor Stein
Medical Advisor
Dr. Eleanor Stein is a Psychiatrist and Psychotherapist whose interest in the past nine years is in ME/CFS, FM and MCS. Dr. Stein runs a small, part-time private practice in Calgary, Alberta offering medical diagnosis and treatment, in addition to individual and group psychotherapy. She was recently appointed as a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Calgary and has organized CME medical conferences, and public lectures. Her research includes a study of autonomic nervous system function in ME/CFS, and wrote a paper on "Repeated exercise capacity in women with CFS, in collaboration with Dr. Brian MacIntosh, Faculty of Kinesiology, University of Calgary which is being prepared for publication. A study on the connection between XMRV and ME/CFS is in progress in collaboration with Drs. Lorne Tyrrell and Michael Houghton and the University of Alberta and Dr. Graham Simmons of the University of California, San Francisco.
Dr. Ellen N. Thompson
Medical Advisor
Dr. Ellen N. Thompson spent five years in general practice. She then did a residency training program in anaesthesia during which she spent time at McMaster-Chedoke Pain Clinic in Hamilton in their pain treatment unit. Dr. Thompson lectured to Ottawa medical students about pain and was involved in curriculum planning at the University of Ottawa. Over the past ten years, she has given talks about aspects of chronic pain and the management thereof to local, provincial and national meetings.
Hugh R. Scher
Legal Counsel
Hugh R. Scher practices Law at Scher Law Professional Corporation, Toronto, in disability insurance and CPP litigation as well as employment and Human Rights Law. He has represented dozens of individuals from across the country with ME/CFS and Fibromyalgia in disputes with long-term disability insurers and Revenue Canada. He has also written numerous articles for our organization's newsletter QUEST and speaks on our behalf of matters of concern to the ME/CFS and FM communities.
John Wodak
Network Liaison
John Wodak, CPP & Disability Advisor. John came to North America in 1963, having completed his education in England. His present activity as a volunteer started in 1993, after his wife was diagnosed with ME/CFS and FM, and after his retirement from working for the Alberta government. In the past 15 years John has advised and/or assisted more than 500 individuals on matters related to disability benefits, in particular CPP (disability) and its provincial counterparts. In addition to his affiliation with the National ME/FM Action Network, John is a member of the CPP Disability National Round Table which provides the federal government with feedback on disability issues.”
Dr. Gordon D. Ko
Medical Advisor
Dr. Gordon D. Ko MD, CCFP(EM), FRCPC, FABPMR, FABPM is Medical Director, Physiatry Fibromyalgia Integrative Treatment clinics at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre,
Dr Amir Landi
Research and Medical Adviser
Amir Landi, MD, PhD, Senior Research Scientist, Li Ka Shing Applied Virology Institute, Department of Medical Microbiology & Immunology, University of Alberta
Dr. Landi is a senior scientist and principal investigator and holds an MD from Tehran University of Medical Sciences as well as a PhD focused on immunology, vaccines and virology from the University of Saskatchewan. Dr. Landi is an executive member of ICanCME Network, a member of the ME/CFS committee of the Alberta Medical Association, a Research/Medical advisor to the Canadian National ME/FM Action Network, and has five issued and 12 ongoing patents in the field of diagnostics and vaccines. Dr. Landi is skilled in clinical medicine, immunology, vaccinology, basic, translational and clinical research, and has been working on the immunologic/virologic aspects of ME/CFS since 2010.