Message from the President

September 2007

Dear Friends

About 10 years ago, I was working as a consultant with John Crowley, when two of his three children were diagnosed with Pompe disease. He invited me to join the board of the Children’s Pompe Foundation, and we worked together with the foundation to help raise money to fund research for that devastating disease. Since then, I’ve spent most of my professional career at biotech companies focused on developing therapies for rare diseases, so when John and Jayne invited me to join the NTSAD Board in 2004, I was eager for the opportunity to give back to a community that has been such an inspiration to me both personally and professionally. The last three years have been an incredibly rewarding experience!

This has been an exciting time for NTSAD. Some highlights of the past year have been a successful transition to a new Tay-Sachs Carrier Testing Quality Control administering lab, continued support of the membership through the Conference, Lifeline and other services, the election or appointment of a number of new leadership positions on the Board and Staff, and the opportunity to award grants to help fund three exciting new projects through the Research Initiative. As many of you who attended the Family Conference know, we’re also in the middle of a strategic planning project designed to help us ensure that as we approach the 50th anniversary of the organization, we not only continue to play a major positive role in moving Tay Sachs and Allied Disease research forward, but also stay true to our mission of supporting our members and the broader NTSAD community.

In closing, I’d like to thank you all for giving me the honor of serving the organization. I very much look forward to working with you all, with the rest of the Board and with the dedicated staff, Diana and Kim, without whom this organization couldn’t function. I’d also like to give a warm welcome to Sue Kahn, who has agreed to join NTSAD as our new Executive Director, and will be a fantastic addition to the organization. Finally, I’d like thank everyone who participated in discussions at the Conference or found other ways to give feedback. Communication is going to be a big focus for us going forward, and we encourage anyone who has ideas for the organization or who would like to become more involved in one of our many initiatives to please contact Sue, Diana or Kim and let us know how you’d like to help.

Sincerely,
Bradley L Campbell
Campbell.bradley@gmail.com