Dione Kobayashi has been part of the Cure CMD Family for 8+ years, serving on both the Scientific Advisory Board and Board of Directors. During this time, Dione has helped see Cure CMD through major changes, helping us grow from our first family conference to expanding our membership to thousands of people across the world. She was also instrumental in the work to create effective CMD mouse models and biomarkers. Dione, you helped make it possible for us to be where we are today, and we are grateful for you.
And speaking of grateful, Cure CMD is fortunate to be welcoming three new members to the Board of Directors this year, each who has been an integral part of our community for several years. We are excited to be working in this new way to fulfill the Cure CMD mission with you!
You already know Megan Meyer from the Two Rare Mama Bears podcast. She lives in Iowa with her two kids, Ethan and Lillian, and husband, Justin, and she’s has been involved in the CMD community since Lillian's SEPN1 diagnosis in 2014. Megan holds a marketing degree and MBA from Bellevue University and has worked in a variety of public relations and/or advocacy roles for 20 years, including: major gifts officer, marketing and PR director, research coordinator, family navigator for children with special healthcare needs and currently in higher education as the Program Administrator for University of Iowa's Genetics PhD program and Neuroscience PhD program. Megan has 15 years of non-profit board of directors experience as member or chairperson in both regional and state level boards. Within Cure CMD, Megan is part of the CMD Advocacy Team and has advocated on Capitol Hill for CMD and rare disease families.
Tim Knutson has been part of the Cure CMD community since 2015, shortly after his sons Peter and Michael were diagnosed with SEPN1-related myopathy,. Since then, the Knutson family holds an annual fundraiser called the Brothers K which supports research for SEPN1. Tim earned a Bachelor of Arts from Luther College, a Master of Arts from Luther Seminary, and is currently the Director of Gift Planning at Carthage College. He lives with his family in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin.
Rob Sunris has been a Cure CMD community member since 2016 and on the Legislative Advocacy Team since 2019. Rob is a Process Engineer at Bank of America and has 26 years of experience in the manufacturing and financial services industries. He finds his problem-solving and engineering skills to be an excellent match for the disability community and has been active with several nonprofits. He holds an MBA from Arizona State University, an MS Industrial Engineering from Cleveland State University, and a BS Industrial & Systems Engineering from The Ohio State University. Rob's teenage daughter, Kierra, lives with Collagen VI CMD and the Sunris family resides in Charlotte, NC.
Join us in welcoming our new board members!