Board Members
Susan Thornton, Chair | Cutaneous Lymphoma Foundation
Susan Thornton is the CEO of the Cutaneous Lymphoma Foundation, and was elected Chair of the Board of Lymphoma Coalition on 31 January 2018. She has also served as a Founding Board Member/Vice Chair of the International Alliance of Dermatology Patient Organizations and Vice Chair of the Coalition of Skin Diseases.
Prior to joining the CLF as CEO, she served on the Board of Directors and provided consulting services to the Foundation. Ms. Thornton spent over 25 years in the healthcare technology field, holding various positions in consulting, marketing and sales.
Rosmarie Pfau, Vice Chair | Lymphome.ch | Patientennetz Schweiz
Rosmarie Pfau is Founder and President of Lymphome.ch Patientennetz Schweiz (formerly ho/noho).
In 1999, Rosmarie was diagnosed with a follicular lymphoma and had to go through various treatments.
Due to the fact that there was a lack of information, resources and support for lymphoma patients and their relatives, Rosmarie set up the first lymphome.ch patient support group in Basel, Switzerland in May 2001, which was followed by other groups in different Swiss regions.
Lymphome.ch became a member of the Lymphoma Coalition in 2004. Rosmarie joined the Lymphoma Coalition Board of Directors in 2014 and was elected Vice Chair in 2018.
Guy Bouguet, Treasurer | France Lymphome Espoir
Guy Bouguet is President of France Lymphome Espoir. Guy is an Electronic Engineer who worked over 10 years in the Silicon Valley for one of the largest semiconductor company.
In 2000, Guy was diagnosed with follicular lymphoma and received several treatments.
In his search for information and understanding of his illness, he found very little that would satisfy his needs in France. So in February 2006, he founded France Lymphome Espoir.
Now in remission, Guy is dedicated to raising awareness of lymphoma, advocating for best access to care and providing information to patients. In 2011 Guy became a Board member of the Lymphoma Coalition.
Dr. Sarper Diler, Secretary | BIRKAN, Turkey
Professor Diler (M.D., PhD, CHTC) is a staff Professor at Istanbul University Medical Faculty and holds Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation Coordinatorship Certificate of the National Marrow Donor Programme (NMDP, USA), consulting international Stemcell Transplantation centers at various universities and advisor at Turkish Social Security Institution (SGK).
Prof Diler is the co-founder and CEO of BIRKAN and Cancer Coalition of Turkey (KANKO). He is a member of Patients Advisory Committee (PAC) of ECCO (European Cancer Organisation), as well as responsible for the inter-organisational networking of Middle East-African Cancer Advocacy Leaders (CALAMEA) and member of World Marrow Donor Association (WMDA).
Sarper has been a Board member of the Lymphoma Coalition since 2011.
Monica Pasqualin, Director | Brazilian Lymphoma and Leukemia Society – ABRALE, Brazil
Monica Pasqualin is an economist with a degree in Political Sciences, Marketing and Social Management. She has more than 20 years of experience at corporate and nonprofit institutions. Presently, she is the Head of Strategic Alliances, Fundraising at ABRALE – Brazilian Lymphoma and Leukemia Society, founded in 2002 and one of the most prestigious patient advocacy organizations in Brazil and Latin America.
She also heads the Alianza Latina programme at ABRALE, coordinating a network of 122 patient advocacy institutions across Latin America, the USA, Spain and Portugal. ABRALE is the founding member and one of the leaders of the All Against Cancer Movement in Brazil, a well-known programme that unites public and private stakeholders to enhance knowledge and policies relating to the most relevant issues in oncology.
Lauren Pretorius, Director | Campaigning for Cancer, South Africa
Lauren Pretorius is the CEO and co-founder of Campaigning for Cancer NPC, an advocacy patient group formed in 2008 to lobby for the promotion and protection of patients’ rights with regards to policy, healthcare costs and healthcare delivery.
Pretorius has worked in the cancer civil society since 2005. She was the chief operating officer of Breast Health Foundation, a co-founder of Bosom Buddies and a consultant to the Prostrate Cancer Foundation of South Africa and various other cancer charities. Pretorius managed the pilot LIVESTRONG/American Cancer Society’s SEI Survivor Forum in South Africa and has represented South Africa as a Global Cancer Ambassador for the UN’s Resolution for Non Communicable Diseases. She chaired the Civil Society Commission at the National Department of Health’s NCD Summit and was a member of National Cancer Registry implementation team as well as a founding member of the executive committee of the Cancer Alliance.
As a specialist consultant, she assisted a number of non-profit organisations to apply business principles and marketing strategies to ensure their greater success and sustainability. From 2000 to 2003 she was contracted to the Nelson Mandela’s Children Fund on brand governance and fundraising partner. She was privileged to work with Nelson Mandela Foundation on the launch of their 46664 brand.
Lorna Warwick, CEO | Lymphoma Coalition
Lorna was appointed CEO of the Lymphoma Coalition in December 2018, to provide vision and leadership for the 83-member strong organisation, having previous been the Coalition’s Director of Strategic Communications and Engagement. Lorna has successfully held senior leadership roles in health charities for more than twenty years and has a diverse background in patient advocacy, mission development, communications, and strategic planning.
Her efforts have been focused on haematological cancers since 2003, at a national (Canada) and global level. Lorna is recognized and respected for strong leadership skills, breadth of knowledge, critical thinking, and patient-focus.
A self-identified data wonk, the rich data procured from the biennial Lymphoma Coalition Global Patient Survey on Lymphomas and CLL allows Lorna to truly understand and report on the global patient experience, by subtype, by therapy area, by geographic area, by gender and by age.
As a result of her years of experience in evidence-based advocacy and especially in the haematology field, she is frequently asked to present on patient experience, emerging trends and important issues in the lymphoma and CLL landscape.
Medical Advisory Board
Dr. Laurie Sehn, MD, MPH – Chair
Chair, BC Cancer Agency Lymphoma Tumor Group, Clinical Associate Professor at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
Dr. Andreas Engert, MD, Professor, Internal Medicine, Hematology and Oncology, University Hospital of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
Dr. John G. Gribben, MD, DSc, FRCPath, FRCP, FMedSci, Professor, Support, Consultant Haematologist & Medical Oncologist Barts & The London NHS Trust. London, England
Dr. Gilles Salles, MD, Professor of Medicine at the University of Lyon, Lyon, France
Dr. John Seymour, MD, Professor, Chair Department of Haematology and Medical Oncology, the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, East Melbourne, Australia
Dr. Julie Vose, MD, The Neumann M. and Mildred E. Harris Professorial Chair, Chief of Oncology/Hematology Division, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, Nebraska, USA
Read Lymphoma Coalition’s By-Laws here.