National Pancreas Foundation Announces the Formation of Two New Chapters

At the meeting of the board of directors on June 17, 2010, two new chapters of the NPF were announced.  Western Pennsylvania and Eastern Massachusetts chapters were formally recognized by the board of directors.

The formation of chapters is part of the strategic direction that the NPF has embarked upon to bring programs and services to local communities and to energize volunteers, both patients and families and physicians to raise awareness about our mission.

The Western PA chapter is being chaired by Mark Rush.  Mr. Rush lost his father to pancreatic cancer and is passionate about changing the landscape when it comes to treating and finding cures for diseases of the pancreas.  Mr. Rush is putting together a committee and so far has enlisted the help of Dr. Ken Lee as Medical Director; Ms. Cate Nied, who will serve as treasurer, and Mr. David Payne.

In Eastern MA, Ellie Loughlin, a long time board member of the NPF has agreed to serve as chair of the chapter.  She is joined by Dr. Darwin Conwell as Medical Director, Taryn Snyder as Secretary, Jennifer Ritz as treasurer, Dr. Chuck Volmer, Vanessa Burrill, Andrew Holt, and Meagan Holt.

Each chapter chair will serve on the national board of directors as an ex-officio member.  This will ensure that the needs of local chapters and communities are always recognized.  Board chair, Joe Titlebaum expressed his gratitude to these new chapter chairs and said, “This has long been a goal for the NPF and we are pleased to welcome these new chapters to the organization.  We believe that this growth strategy is critical to our success and more importantly to our ability to reach more patients and physicians.”

Each chapter will have three goals:

1. Patient Outreach
2. Physician Outreach
3. Fundraising

If you are interested in starting a chapter in your area, please contact us and we will explain the expectations we have set.