Jack Aiello and Sanjay Singh Elected to IMF's Board of Directors
Meet the IMF's newest board members
The International Myeloma Foundation (IMF) recently welcomed two new members to the Board: Myeloma Support Group Leader and 28-year myeloma survivor Jack Aiello, and Global Finance and Strategy Leader and 2-year myeloma survivor Sanjay Singh.
In a Q&A interview, Aiello and Singh shared some of their experiences, thoughts, and respective visions for the IMF, as new board members.
What made you decide to join the IMF Board?
Jack Aiello: I consider it an honor and privilege to be considered for a position on the IMF’s Board of Directors and hope to offer the patients’ perspectives on living with myeloma. Among its many accomplishments, the IMF does a fabulous job of offering patient education and hope, which are in line with my personal goals of getting patients past those initial feelings of being overwhelmed and scared. I can personally attest to this, having first connected with the IMF shortly after I was diagnosed in 1995, and attending their Patient and Family Seminar in 1996. In the years that followed, they have provided me with opportunities to grow in various roles of being a patient advocate: 1) I facilitate our support group, and they’ve helped me become a better support group leader; 2) I’ve been involved in public policy, having gone to Washington and meeting with Congressional folks; 3) The IMF supports my fundraising activities, whether it be a poker party or a letter writing campaign; and 4) The IMF has emboldened my role in research advocacy, having sent me to ASH for many years and encouraged me to become a myeloma research advocate for SWOG, which develops clinical trials. Now, I am able to give back at the Board level.
Sanjay Singh: My personal experience with multiple myeloma has inspired me to become a passionate advocate for access, equity, and patient care in the treatment of this condition. I hope to bring to the Board my unique perspective as a patient who has experienced the myeloma journey firsthand and has benefited from leading-edge research in the treatment of this condition.
I was diagnosed with multiple myeloma in September 2021 and started treatment at the Abramson Cancer Center at the University of Pennsylvania Hospital. Two years later, my myeloma is in complete remission following a CAR-T cell clinical trial that my oncologist signed me up for. As I look back at the series of fortunate circumstances that led to this outcome, I realize that things could have turned out very differently with disastrous consequences: What if I had not decided to live and naturalize in the US years ago? What if I was not living close to a leading-edge research hospital like UPenn? What if I could not sign up for the clinical trial? What if I couldn’t afford the care or take time off to focus on treatment? What if I did not have a strong support system in my family and friends? This is a humbling realization and one that compels me to pay forward the privilege. Now it’s time to give back.
Professionally, I bring thirty plus years of Finance and Strategy experience leading organizations through strategy assessment, implementation, and transformation in diverse settings in the U.S. and internationally. As a Board Member, I will bring this experience to further IMF’s mission and impact across the world.
What do you envision could become your most impactful contribution/s to the board, to the IMF, and to the myeloma community at large?
Jack Aiello: Encouraging patients to become their own best advocates, empowering them with myeloma knowledge and questions to ask their physicians, and equipping them with tools to manage their disease provides myeloma patients with the best opportunity to live long with good quality lives. I also believe I can help others learn to fundraise. After all, we all have friends asking how they can help, and this is one very important way. Finally, it’s important to develop other patient advocates, providing them with tools that the IMF has provided to me. I know that joining the IMF Board will provide me with the opportunity to continue this endeavor.
Sanjay Singh: I hope to bring my considerable experience and expertise in leading transformations and strategy assessments to IMF to sharpen and strengthen its strategies, expand its resources and hence impact, globally. I will look to serve on Board Committees like the Audit Committee, Executive Compensation Committee, Governance Committee, and others that may be relevant to my skills and experiences.
As a myeloma survivor and IMF Board Member, what do you think are the most pressing unmet needs of myeloma patients that the IMF can help address in the not-so-distant future?
Jack Aiello: Of course, the answer to this question varies with the patient. All patients want to know what treatment will work best for them in any setting (pre-myeloma, newly diagnosed, relapsed), providing them with the best response for the longest time possible with the best quality of life. With so many treatments available, the IMF and IMWG can design trials, provide guidelines on treatment sequences, assess real-world patient outcomes, and more. The IMF also has many wonderful patient resources on their website.
Sanjay Singh: I am not yet deeply familiar with all activities of IMF, but from my personal experience and the little I have come to know about IMF, I feel that access is still a huge opportunity. Access to knowledge about multiple myeloma, to awareness and knowledge of cutting-edge science and treatments, access to good oncologists and hospitals to treat the condition, access to support groups, access to financial support for expensive treatments…I could go on and on. I also feel this access is especially needed in underprivileged sections of our societies, both at home in the U.S. and in countries where access is not readily available. Today’s digital world with technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI) can shrink this access gap by providing local information and support in countries around the world, in languages and terminologies patients and their families can easily understand, to navigate their multiple myeloma journey better. Huge opportunity.
As an IMF Board Member with a tech background and having witnessed the evolution and exponential growth of the IMF in terms of patient education and advocacies, what new avenues/opportunities would you recommend exploring to make the patient experience more robust, given that there are new and sophisticated technologies/tools that are now available?
Jack Aiello: Everyone talks AI (Artificial Intelligence) these days. I’m sure that integrating AI tools with answers provided by the InfoLine could help the IMF folks provide a more complete response to patient questions.
From personal experience, I have found support groups incredibly valuable. With virtual attendance, support groups have become more available to those living in faraway areas, but there is still benefit to meeting people in person, if possible.
As an IMF Board Member with a diverse and international perspective and sensitivity, what recommendations/contributions can you provide for the global myeloma community and for the IMF’s efforts on an international scale (e.g., GMAN, AMN, etc.)?
Sanjay Singh: I am fortunate to have lived and worked in multiple countries: India, Bangladesh, South Korea, China, Japan, and the US, while gaining valuable international experience in the process. I have also seen firsthand how the digital revolution is upending industries and economies across the world. Everyone has a smartphone now with internet access, even in remote places in Asia and Africa and has access to knowledge and resources, which was unthinkable just years ago. The IMF can now reach patients that were unreachable before and connect them with knowledge and resources in languages and easy-to-understand science where such access was inconceivable before. I am hopeful I can help and aid in this effort and hopefully, expand the resources available to the IMF such that they can reach and help more patients and families across the globe.
About the IMF Board Members
Jack Aiello
Diagnosed with multiple myeloma in 1995, Jack Aiello has been a long-time Myeloma Support Group Leader in the San Francisco Bay Area and a member of the IMF’s Global Myeloma Action Network (GMAN) since 2013. Currently, he is a Patient Advocate on NCI Symptom Management and Quality of Life (SxQoL) Steering Committee; a member of NCI’s Patient Advocate Steering Committee (PASC); a member of the SWOG Cooperative Group Myeloma and Patient Advocacy Committees; an Emeritus Board of Director of the Patient Empowerment Network; a participant at Stanford’s Scientific Review Committee; and a volunteer for the LLS First Connection and Cleveland Clinic Fourth Angel programs.
Aiello brings more than two decades of experience in extensive patient advocacy in Washington, DC, and state governments. He was a former Patient Advocate on the NCI Myeloma Steering Committee (MYSC); and the CIBMTR Consumer Advocacy Committee (CAC) (2013-2022). He is also an active participant of the American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting, the International Myeloma Working Group (IMWG) Annual Meeting, and the IMF Support Group Annual Leaders Summit.
Sanjay Singh
Sanjay Singh is a global finance and strategy leader who leverages his broad financial expertise to shape and influence business strategy and drive transformation. He is currently a Consultant and Board Member. He has worked as a Chief Financial Officer and Senior VP for Business Planning and Analysis at Qurate Retail Group (parent company of QVC Inc.); as Senior VP of Finance at Abercrombie & Fitch; and has had 22 years of experience in progressively senior financial leadership positions at Procter & Gamble.