New Canaan’s Kathy Giusti is one of the world’s greatest leaders, according to Fortune Magazine, which just released its list of the “World’s 50 Greatest Leaders.”
The article, published on CNN’s Money site, notes: “In an era that feels starved for leadership, we’ve found men and women who will inspire you — some famous, others little known, all of them energizing their followers and making the world better.”
Giusti is the founder and chief executive officer of the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation and a multiple myeloma patient. Under Giusti’s leadership, the MMRF, working in close partnership with academic and industry partners, has made progress against multiple myeloma. Over the last decade, six new treatments have been approved by the FDA, the myeloma genome sequenced, and patients’ survival has doubled.
Recently, the MMRF launched the CoMMpass study, a landmark study to define the molecular subtypes of the disease to drive toward precision medicine. The study follows 1,000 newly diagnosed multiple myeloma patients longitudinally over at least five years, collecting comprehensive clinical data and tissue samples which will be extensively analyzed using cutting-edge sequencing technology. CoMMpass data will be placed into an open-access data platform, together with data from other MMRF-driven initiatives as well as from other sources entirely, to create the most robust set of clinical and genomic data in any cancer that is openly available to researchers worldwide.
In 2011, Giusti was named to the Time magazine 100 list of the world’s most influential people and has received numerous awards and honors for her work, the Harvard Business School Leadership Award and an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Vermont.
Paul Giusti, Kathy’s husband, sent out this email on Thursday, March 20:
It is with a great deal of excitement — coupled with considerable humility — that I am writing to let you know some exciting news! Today, Fortune Magazine announced their list of the World’s Fifty Greatest Leaders — with Kathy included on the list for her work with the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation.
While our family is so appreciative of this wonderful recognition, we know that Kathy could not have accomplished all that she has without the support of our family and friends. We are writing to let you know about this award with the understanding that it was earned with your help, encouragement and friendship.
Here is the link: Fortune Magazine World’s Fifty Greatest Leaders.
From our family to yours, thank you and all our best wishes.
Paul Giusti
Former baseball player and manager Bobby Valentine, right, poses with Paul and Kathy Giusti of New Canaan at the June 2013 MMRF race at New Canaan High School.