KATHY GIUSTI

FOUNDER AND CEO, MULTIPLE MYELOMA RESEARCH FOUNDATION

After being diagnosed with multiple myeloma in 1998, Kathy Giusti and her sister Karen Andrews, a successful corporate attorney, founded the MMRF with the hope of one day finding a cure for this fatal blood cancer. Leveraging her past experience as a graduate of Harvard Business School and leader of a major pharmaceutical company, Kathy applied her business savvy to the science of cancer research. She and the MMRF identified barriers slowing drug development, particularly in an uncommon heterogeneous disease like multiple myeloma and developed collaborative models to overcome those obstacles. Optimized to run like a Fortune 500 company, with a culture of speed, innovation, and results—the MMRF remains laser focused on accelerating new and better treatments for patients, leading toward a cure. The success of the MMRF is a reflection of the researchers, clinicians and industry partners who have helped build game-changing models in tissue banking, genomics, clinical trials, and open access—leading not only to transforming myeloma research but becoming the blueprint for other cancer organizations around the world.