Russell Williams elected Chair, CFN Board of Directors
CFN Network is pleased to announce the election of Russell Williams, President, Canada’s Research-Based Pharmaceutical Companies (Rx&D), as Chair of the CFN’s Board of Directors. Mr. Williams assumed the role at the Board’s first meeting held in Toronto on January 22, 2015. Click here for a PDF of this announcement (en français).
CFN is a not-for-profit research network aimed at improving the care of seriously ill elderly patients, and supporting their families and caregivers. The focus is on the sickest of the sick, the frail elderly with multiple chronic conditions, where there is a question as to how to improve their survival and quality of life, or the quality of their death, including end-of-life care.
“It can often take a personal experience to understand the toll on the families and caregivers of the seriously ill, frail elderly, particularly at end-of-life,” said Mr. Williams. “Everyone has an older family member or someone close to them who is frail. The need for improvements in care for these Canadians will only continue to grow, and CFN is uniquely positioned to help structure a national plan for the care of the seriously ill, frail elderly.”
Russell Williams is a passionate community leader. Prior to joining Rx&D, he successfully represented the Montreal riding of Nelligan for 15 years as a Liberal MNA in the National Assembly of Quebec, and is well known for his advocacy for individual rights and government services focused on the needs of citizens. He continues active volunteer involvement in palliative care and, in January 2014, received the Quality End-of-Life Care Coalition of Canada (QELCCC) second annual Award of Excellence in Advocacy for his tireless advocacy for hospice palliative care. He is also well known for his championship of Canadian health research, and this commitment was honoured in November of 2014 when he was received the inaugural Research Canada Leadership Award.
“We’re pleased to welcome Russell as the new chair of the CFN Board of Directors,” said CFN Scientific Director and CEO Dr. John Muscedere. “Care of the frail elderly is a complex issue that requires multi-faceted, national strategies and solutions, informed by best practices and collaborations. His passion and support for our work, as well as his experience in governance and policy, will help guide CFN toward the realization of our strategic plan, and as we work towards funding renewal.”
CFN’s Board of Directors is comprised of people of remarkable talent and commitment from across Canada – Richard Birtwhistle (Kingston), Dan Ciuriak (Ottawa), David Crane (Toronto), Brian Gray (Toronto), Nuala Kenny (Halifax), Bernard Lapointe (Montreal), Steven Liss (Kingston), Tom Noseworthy (Calgary), Joyce Resin (Vancouver), Deborah Thorlakson (Winnipeg), Peter Tugwell (Ottawa) and Russell Williams (Ottawa).