Board of Directors
Our Board of Directors, listed below, is comprised of MPN patients, MPN patient family members, MPN carers, as well as leaders from Canadian industry and non-profits.
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Their collective expertise provides critical Leadership and Governance to the Foundation's operations. That same expertise also informs the robust analysis and decision-making process the Board applies to the review of potential research projects.
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CMPNRF Board of Directors
Tony Comper, C.M.
Past President and C.E.O, BMO Financial Group
Tony Comper was appointed CEO of BMO Financial Group in February 1999, and also served as Chairman from July 1999 to May 2004, when the bank moved to a non-executive Chairman model. Member of the International Advisory Committee, Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute of St. Michael’s Hospital; Honorary Chair, Board of Governors of the Yee Hong Centre for Geriatric Care; The Advisory Board for The Conference Board of Canada/Spencer Stuart National Governance Award and Member of the Investment Committee, Catalyst; served as Independent Lead Director of Spectra Energy
Corporation, Houston; Served as Chair of the Board of Directors, PPP Canada; He received the Human Relations Award from the Canadian Council of Christians and Jews &; the Award of Merit from B’nai Brith Canada He holds honorary degrees from the University of Toronto (LL.D.), Mount Saint Vincent University (D.Hum.L), the University of New Brunswick (D.Litt.); and Haifa University with his late wife Elizabeth.
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Tony and his late wife Elizabeth also received the Scopus Award from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. They also founded FAST, a new initiative to combat antisemitism in Canada. In November 2009, Concordia University conferred the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Honoris Causa) on Tony and his wife Elizabeth. In January 2011, he received the Order of Canada together with his wife Elizabeth.
Dr. Vikas Gupta
MMD, FRCP, FRCPath
Dr. Gupta is site lead for the Elizabeth and Tony Comper MPN Program, and a member of the Leukemia/MPN Program at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre. He is the founding member and president of the Canadian MPN Group. His clinical and research activities are focused on developing novel transplant and non-transplant based treatment strategies for patients with myeloid malignancies, in particular, myeloproliferative neoplasms.
Merrill Pierce
Board Chair
Merrill is the Founder & President CEO of The Pierce Group, a division of MPSquared Coaching Canada, specializing in providing Executive Coaching & CEO Peer Advisory Groups. Merrill is a Professional Certified Coach (PCC) accredited by the International Coach Federation. She is also a member of the Society of Organized Learning (SOL) Community of Coaches at Harvard, specializing in coaching from a systems perspective. This is complemented by certification in Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR Mediation) from the University of Windsor Law School.
Additionally, Merrill is also accredited by Insights Learning & Development, a global leader in the field of people and organizational development, to facilitate and administer psychometric/personality testing.
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In addition to comprehensive professional training, Merrill has over 15 years of insight and experience as a senior executive herself (in the advertising industry working with such prestigious clients as Nestle, Quaker Oats, Bank of Montreal, Canadian Airlines, McDonalds Restaurants, Estee Lauder, Yamaha and Prince Edward Island Tourism) that she brings to her role as Head Coach.
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As well as directing the day-to-day management of MPSquared Coaching Merrill makes time for additional responsibilities; She is a professor at Humber College’s School of Media Studies and Business School Graduate Program teaching ‘Marketing and Account Management’, and is the Chair of The Pierce Peer Advisory group for C-Suite and senior level executives.
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Merrill is a contributor and industry expert on (Goldhawk Live, 2nd Chances), radio (What She Said) and as a conference panellist and Keynote speaker at (DW Ignite). She is the author of Regeneration “Define Your Path” which was commissioned by The Bank of Montreal and in 2016 she was the proud recipient of Distinctive Women Awards: Professional of the Year.
Mike Brady
Vice Chair, P.ENG, MBA
Mike Brady is a highly effective executive with a proven track record for success. Mike possesses both startup and blue-chip corporate leadership experience. Passionate public speaker and active member of the community. Mike Brady is
responsible for leading Trillion LLC.’s commercial operations as Chief Commercial Officer and Board Director; Secretary. Mr. Brady’s area of expertise lies with capital equipment sales and marketing, sales team development, international business development, strategic planning, finance, commercial contract negotiations, and relations.
He has worked for 20+ years in the energy industry on an international basis both as a domestic employee and an expatriate, namely in NA, SA, EU and MENA.
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Mike’s previous career experiences include 18 years combined with Aecon Group Inc. and Babcock & Wilcox Canada in vice president leadership roles related to sales, business development, marketing, strategic planning & general management. Mr. Brady has been very active in oil & gas and power generation projects, globally and throughout his career. He holds a Professional Engineering License, a Bachelor of Engineering Science from Western University and an MBA from the Richard Ivey School of Business, Western University.
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Mike is Vice Chair, BOD of the Canadian MPN Research Foundation and a BOD Member of the Canadian MPN Patient Network. Mike was a former Canadian Cancer Society Ontario Nominating and Governance Committee member. Mike’s charitable work and public speaking initiatives can be found at www.mikebrady.ca. Mike is also an active athlete participating in long-distance road bike rides, weight training, yoga and mindfulness activities.
Susan Wright
Board Director
Susan Wright has been a management consultant for over 35 years – working for a
number of firms including the management consulting division of Towers Perrin. In
1991 Susan founded a small firm with 3 other partners called The Randolph Group and
in 2011 she established her own firm Wright Management Consulting. Susan is
currently in the process of winding down her consulting practice and focusing on
volunteering and teaching.
Through her consulting practice Susan has specialized in strategic planning, governance and organizational design for not-for-profit and public sector clients. As a consultant she has worked with not-for-profit organizations, federal, provincial and
municipal governments, associations and special purpose agencies.
A significant part of Susan’s work has involved working with boards of not-for-profit organizations. She has done this in both a professional and volunteer capacity. Susan’s past volunteer roles have included being the Chair of the Conference of
Independent Schools of Ontario (CIS Ontario) and a variety of volunteer roles at Havergal College including serving as Chair of the Board of Governors and sitting on the Havergal College Foundation. Susan is currently an external member on the Board
of Lakefield College School and is Vice-Chair of their Governance Committee.
Susan received a B.A. (Honours) degree from Queen’s University and a M. Phil from the University of Glasgow in Scotland. Education is one of Susan’s passions and she was the lead developer of a team which created a certificate program for the
University of Toronto’s School of Continuing Studies called “Non-Profit Leadership for Impact” in 2015. Susan currently co-teaches the first course in the certificate entitled Non-Profit Leadership, Strategy and Change.​
Pamela Murphy
Board Director
With an eclectic background that includes marketing, advertising, publishing and early childhood development, in 1987, Pam transitioned into the biotech industry, joining an emerging pharmaceutical startup at the request of a colleague. This role introduced her to the complexities of early-stage drug development, FDA regulations and idiosyncrasies, Wall Street and investor communications.
Over the next 15 years, she specialized in capital raising and reputation management for multiple biotech firms, including Incyte where she first established a foundational relationship with Bob Rosen and MPNRF in Chicago in 2005. She has been on the Board of MPNRF since 2012.
Throughout her diverse career, Pam has consistently focused on identifying customer needs, maintaining key strategic relationships and pursuing better business outcomes. She values thoughtful consultation and is known for challenging the status quo when necessary—advocating for what is right over what is merely comfortable.
Susan Murray
Board Director
Susan is an Ontario Scholar with a B.Sc. in Occupational Therapy from Queen’s University and a Postgraduate Certificate in Business Administration from Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, Scotland. Her 42-year career in Rehabilitation Services with Alberta Health Services (AHS) spanned numerous clinical and managerial roles. Susan has her Prosci Change Management Certification and has led several rounds of restructuring and organizational change in Rehabilitation and IT over her long career.
As a former Provincial Clinical Design Lead in IT, Susan developed an interest and expertise in Clinical Informatics and Clinical Information Systems. Her team received the AHS President’s Excellence Award for Quality Improvement in the implementation of a province-wide Public Health electronic medical record.
Susan became a care partner of an MPN-U (unclassifiable) patient upon diagnosis in 2019 and is passionate about the betterment of the MPN community. She retired from her professional career in 2021 and became a forest therapy guide, helping cancer patients and care partners harness the healing power of nature. She is active with her artistic pursuits, motorhome trips in Western Canada, and travel to the UK and Europe. Susan believes in the wholeness and resilience of each person and honours their unique story and journey.