Meningitis Research Foundation of Canada

Kathryn KATHRYN BLAIN

I am the Mother of two children, Stepmother of three children and Grandmother of five children.

After leaving a career as a financial planner, I became involved in the interior design business. I decided to expand upon this career and opened a furniture store in 2001, along with my husband Don who was a retired Platoon Chief from the Kitchener fire department.

My most proud accomplishment has been being a Mother, that role for me embodied the essence of my being. In 1995 I was shaken to the core of my existence in the sudden death of my son Michael Longo age 19 from Meningococcal Septicaemia. The loss of Michael in my life channels so much of how I live my life and what energy I put into the various aspects of my life. As a symbol of my love for him and who he was as a person I founded the Meningitis Research Foundation of Canada, along with the support of a very valued Board of Directors.

Dr Gold DR. RONALD GOLD

Dr. Ronald Gold was born in the United States. He received his BA (1957) and MD (1962) and MPH (1967) from Harvard University. He trained in pediatrics at Boston City Hospital, Boston Children's Hospital, and St. Mary's Hospital Medical School, London between 1962-66. From 1968-71, he was research medical officer at Walter Reed Army Institute of Research where he directed the successful field trials of the meningococcal vaccine. From 1971-79, he was in Department of Pediatrics at the University of Connecticut Health Center and studied meningococcal vaccines in infants and children.

From 1979-96, he was Professor of Pediatrics and Head of Division of Infectious Diseases at The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto. His research has focused on the management of bacterial meningitis and the evaluation of childhood vaccines.

He served on many advisory committees including the National Advisory Committee on Immunization; Infectious Diseases and Immunization Committee of the Canadian Paediatric Society; Immunization Monitoring Program, Active [IMPACT] of Canadian Paediatric Society; Committee on Infectious Diseases of American Academy of Pediatrics; and the Immunization Subcommittee of the Ontario Infectious Disease Advisory Committee.

He retired in 1996 and is a part-time medical consultant to Sanofi Pasteur Canada advising on its vaccine research programs.
He has been a Senior Medical Advisor and a member of the Board of Directors of the Meningitis Research Foundation of Canada since its inception.

Ben BEN LEHMANN

Ben was born and raised in the Kitchener - Waterloo area. He currently lives in Waterloo with his wife Melissa and children Emma and Matthew.

Ben attended the University of Waterloo where he completed the School of Accountancy and graduated with a Bachelor in Accounting and an Honours Arts degree. He went on to qualify as a Chartered Accountant in 2000.

He is currently the Director of Finance a Pharos Life Corporation where he oversees financial and operational activities of the Company. Previously Ben worked with Deloitte & Touche as well as a Waterloo based Software Company.

Ben has been the treasurer of the Meningitis Research Foundation for 5 years and has also been a member of the Michael Longo Classic organizing committee. He has also volunteered his time with Junior Achievement. He is looking forward to working with the Meningitis Research Foundation to expand their national presence and to organize the wrist band fundraising campaign.

Karen KAREN MAYFIELD

Vice President, Shareholder (CRA),
Managing Director and Treasurer of eSolutions Group - Karen Mayfield, C. Tech., MCSE

Managing Director of Conestoga-Rovers & Associates' (CRA) eSolutions Group, Karen Mayfield has 15 years of experience in networking and project management and is responsible for many projects, including overseeing eSolutions' development of new technologies and the delivery of services to their clients. Karen has overseen many software development projects including environmental compliance software, website management tools, and e-learning tools. Her diverse role involves network infrastructure, graphics, website design, programming, and Internet services.

Karen is a Civil Technologist (C.Tech.), Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE) and in addition to her long career in information technology, she is a member of the Ontario Association of Certified Engineering Technicians and Technologists (OACETT) and has judged for the Economic Developers Council of Ontario's Ontario Marketing Awards.

Karen's community involvement includes an active and involved role as a Board Member of the Meningitis Foundation of Canada, plus committee membership on the Conestoga College's Play The Classic and the Greater Kitchener Waterloo's Business Excellence Awards.

Michael MICHAEL REDFEARN

A father of five children and teacher with more than 20 years of experience, Mike is currently an Information Technology consultant with the Waterloo Catholic District school board. In addition to his work as a consultant, Mike is a graduate (2010) of the Master of Catholic Thought program at St. Jerome's, University in Waterloo.

A founding director of the Meningitis Research Foundation of Canada, Mike is the MRFC executive assistant. He organized the annual Michael Longo Classic charity golf tournament and auction (2000 - 2005) to help raise $100,000.00 for the foundation. Involved since the inception of the MRFC in 1998, he was approached by Kathryn Blain to join the organization, as he was Michael Longo's teacher at St. David Catholic secondary school in Waterloo before his death.

His community work extends beyond the classroom and the MRFC. As a freelance writer, Mike has contributed editorials to the Waterloo Region Record since 1991 and, most recently, The Catholic Register and was a member of the inaugural Community Editorial Board of The Kitchener-Waterloo Record (1999 - 2000).

Elissa ELISSA KULPERS

After tragedy struck my family I went to the MRFC website for information.

I called the MRFC and spoke to Kathryn who provided me with information and support. She suggested that I become a board member, which I did a short time later. I became involved in hope of furthering the goals of the MRFC, and specifically in hope of reaching out to other who have gone through similar tragedies. The information and support I received through Kathryn and the MRFC was invaluable and it is my hope to provide the same to others.

Mike MIKE CROSS

My life changed on October 13^th 2000. I was a 16 year old high school student at a national soccer tournament in Sherbrooke Quebec when I began feeling ill. Within 18 hours of my first symptoms I was in a drug induced coma in the Intensive Care Unit of Sherbrooke University Hospital and given a very small chance of survival from doctors.

As a result of the highest professional care and a stroke of good fortune I was able to pull through my illness with no lasting effects. I would be hospitalized for 6 weeks and a further 6 months of rehabilitation before I was back to living a normal life. As my recovery was under way, my family and I decided we would try to do anything we could to help other families avoid going through the same terrifying experience that we did. We realized that there is an extreme lack of education and awareness of this deadly disease in the general public. What shocked us even more was when we found out there are vaccines available that would have prevented me from getting sick.

I have been involved with the MRFC now for about 8 years and I share their goals of raising funds for research and generally educating the public on their options when it comes to protecting ourselves against this terrible disease.