Advisory Committee

When Jenny Ahlstrom was diagnosed with multiple myeloma in 2010, she was grateful for all the great work being done in myeloma, but saw gaps in support, tools, and funding that she believed could help patients navigate their disease and accelerate a cure.

She created the CrowdCare Foundation and the Myeloma Crowd with three goals: 1) educate and support patients, 2) use data to hasten a myeloma cure, and 3) fund critical research.

The Myeloma Crowd programs include: Myeloma Crowd website (with over 700,000 unique visitors per year), Myeloma Crowd Round Tables, Myeloma Coach (over 100 Coaches), Myeloma Crowd Radio (140 shows to date), Muscles for Myeloma, HealthTree.org (over 5,900 patient participants), and the Myeloma Crowd Research Initiative (funding five investigator projects). The HealthTree platform is first-in-class software that both supports myeloma patients over the lifetime of their disease but also aggregates patient data to rapidly answer critical research questions that could lead us to a cure. 

Before becoming the executive director of Life with Cancer and Patient Experience for the Inova Schar Cancer Institute, Jennifer Bires served as the executive director at Smith Center for Healing and the Arts in Washington, D.C., after almost a decade of experience as an oncology social worker in the D.C. area. Bires has a passion for improving access to psychosocial services for those impacted by cancer. She specializes in working with young adults who have been diagnosed with cancer, end-of-life issues for patients and families, and sexual health. Jennifer is the 2017 recipient of the Oncology Social Worker of the Year Award from the Association of Oncology Social Workers.

Craig Emmitt Cole, M.D., is a Hematologist at the Karmanos Cancer Institute of McLaren Greater Lansing, and Assistant Professor in the Division of Hematology and Oncology at Michigan State University. 

Dr. Cole’s research interests include multiple myeloma, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, therapeutic apheresis, and myelodysplasia. He has published and presented his research at the American Society of Hematology and the American Society for Apheresis national meetings. He also has a commitment to patient empowerment and education working with several local and national patient advocacy associations. 

Dr. Cole received his Bachelor of Science degree in physiology at Michigan State University and the College of Lyman Briggs, in East Lansing Michigan. Dr. Cole went on to receive his doctoral degree at the Ohio State University College of Medicine in Columbus, Ohio. He completed his Internal Medicine Residency and Hematology/Oncology Fellowship at the University of Michigan Health System, Ann Arbor, Michigan. Dr. Cole subsequently had a post-fellowship laboratory research position at the Jerome Lipper Multiple Myeloma Center of Medicine at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, Massachusetts.

Eric Dallara, RPh, is head pharmacist at the main dispensing pharmacy of New England Cancer Specialists. He has more than 15 years of experience as a pharmacist in the state Maine. In this role, he works closely with New England Cancer Specialists' five full-time financial advocates on both IV and oral medications. He is also involved in the Oncology Care Model (OCM) project.

Kirollos Hanna, PharmD, BCPS, BCOP, is the Director of Pharmacy at Minnesota Oncology and an Assistant Professor of Pharmacy at the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine. Dr. Hanna also serves as an Associate Editor for the Journal of the Advanced Practitioner in Oncology (JADPRO).

Dr. Hanna’s research interests are focused on B-cell malignancies and genitourinary cancers. He has published over a dozen peer-reviewed manuscripts in various journals including Pharmacotherapy, AJHP, Drugs, JOPP, AJMC and JHOP.

Dr. Hanna is board certified by the Board of Pharmacy Specialties in Oncology Pharmacy and Pharmacotherapy. He received his Doctor of Pharmacy from Florida A&M University, completed his general residency at St. Thomas Hospital, Nashville, TN and his oncology residency at St. Luke's Mountain States Tumor Institute, Boise, ID.

Susan Kumka, MSN, RN-BC, APN-C, has over 23 years of experience in the healthcare industry. She is currently employed at Hackensack University Medical Center as an advanced practice nurse for patients with multiple myeloma, Waldenstrom’s macroglobulinemia, and amyloid light-chain (AL) amyloidosis. 

Prior to this, she practiced in oncology for two years with a focus in neuro-oncology, hematology, and solid tumors.

To stay involved in the advancements in her field, she participates as a sub-investigator in Phase I and Phase II clinical trials and is active with a myeloma support group. 

Susan is board certified by the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners as an Adult Nurse Practitioner. She received her BS degree in nursing and her MS in nursing from William Paterson University with a graduate focus as an Adult Nurse Practitioner.    

Jessica Noble, PharmD, RPh, joined The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center in the Outpatient Pharmacy in January 2017. She accepted the lead retail position in 2018 and took on the challenge of obtaining the first two specialty pharmacy accreditations for Ohio State.

After establishing the patient care management program and numerous other enhancements to patient services, IT, and policies, Ohio State obtained accreditations from URAC and the Accreditation Commission for Health Care (ACHC), and additional distinctions in oncology and HIV from ACHC. Dr. Noble comes to OSU from Walgreens where she served OSU patients as manager of the local specialty pharmacy.

She received her Doctor of Pharmacy from The Ohio State University College of Pharmacy.

She is passionate about making a positive difference for her patients and peers. She enjoys creating opportunities to bring better quality care and education to staff and patients and finds opportunities to facilitate interdisciplinary teams to work together.

Christopher Schumpp, PharmD, is currently the clinical pharmacist, Specialty Pharmacy Services, Ambulatory Pharmacy Services, and a clinical instructor, Pharmacy Practice at the University of Illinois Hospital and Health System System (UI Health), a major academic teaching institution on the near west side of Chicago.

JoAnn Stubbings, BSPharm, MHCA, is Associate Director, Specialty Pharmacy Services at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Pharmacy. Where she is also a clinical associate professor in the Department of Pharmacy Practice and the Department of Pharmacy Systems, Outcomes, and Policy at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Pharmacy.

As associate director, Specialty Pharmacy Services, she leads an advanced and well-established health-system based specialty pharmacy team that includes a clinical coordinator, accreditation and residency coordinator, call center and operations coordinator, business coordinator, plus an outstanding group of pharmacists, certified pharmacy technicians, pharmacy residents, and pharmacy students. JoAnn has a comprehensive understanding of how to build a specialty pharmacy, and how to grow the business by overcoming many challenges.

In her role as clinical associate professor at the UIC College of Pharmacy, she understands the role of pharmacy and post-graduation education in specialty pharmacy. JoAnn has developed and implemented modern active learning tools in the classroom and online. Additionally, she spearheaded the creation of an ASHP-accredited Community Pharmacy Residency with a focus on specialty pharmacy.

Kelly Terrell is a registered nurse at Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital & Washington University School of Medicine, Saint Louis, Missouri. She received a Bachelor of Science degree at Goldfarb School of Nursing at Barnes-Jewish College, Saint Louis, in 2011, and earned a Master of Business Administration degree from Webster University, Saint Louis, in March of 2017. Her previous experience as a BMT Staff Nurse, Nursing Supervisor, Transplant Coordinator, and Clinical Nurse Manager led to her current role as Clinical Program Manager with the Division of Leukemia, Lymphoma, Cell Therapy & Stem Cell Transplantation. She currently resides in Saint Louis with her husband Charlie and their three children.

Jessica Unzaga, PharmD, BCPS, BCOP, is a clinical pharmacy coordinator at the Miami Cancer Institute at Baptist Health South Florida. Dr. Unzaga carries dual board certification in pharmacotherapy (BCPS) and oncology pharmacy (BCOP). She has served many roles in the inpatient and outpatient oncology service lines including inpatient malignant hematology, outpatient oral chemotherapy clinic for solid tumor and hematologic malignancies, and outpatient bone marrow transplantation.

Dr. Unzaga is an active preceptor and mentor for pharmacy students and residents on clinical rotations in hematology and bone marrow transplantation. She is a courtesy clinical assistant professor for the University of Florida College of Pharmacy and invited lecturer for pharmacotherapy of lymphomas and multiple myeloma for the Larkin University College of Pharmacy. Additionally, she is an active member of the Hematology/Oncology Pharmacy Association (HOPA), American Society of Hematology (ASH), American Society of Transplantation and Cellular Therapy (ASTCT), Florida Society of Clinical Oncology (FLASCO), and Florida Society of Health System Pharmacists Southeast Society (SE-FSHP).

She is a graduate of the University of Florida College of Pharmacy and completed her post-graduate year (PGY) 1 and 2 residencies at the Veterans Affairs Tennessee Valley Healthcare System (VA TVHS) in Nashville, Tennessee, at Methodist University Hospital and the West Cancer Center, respectively.