by Angelica Bourgeault; Marie-Eve Carrier | Oct 07, 2020

Today, SPIN was proud to announce the 2019 and 2020 recipients of the Maureen Sauvé Inspiration Award at the 19th Bi-Annual Canadian National Scleroderma Virtual Conference. Our 2019 Award was presented to Catherine Fortuné in recognition of her outstanding work as a patient advocate and a member of the Scleroderma Support group Leader EDucation (SPIN-SSLED) and Physical ACtivity Enhancement (SPIN-PACE) Patient Advisory team. Our 2020 Award was presented to Laura Dyas in recognition of her exemplary work as the Executive Director of the Michigan Chapter of the Scleroderma Foundation, as Training Director of the SPIN-SSLED Program, and as Moderator Supervisor of the SPIN-CHAT (SPIN COVID-19 Home-isolation Activities Together) Program.

The Maureen Sauvé Inspiration Award was inaugurated in 2018 to recognize remarkable accomplishments of individuals in the scleroderma community, who are working to support scleroderma research and care, improve quality of life in scleroderma, and raise awareness about the disease. Due to the postponement of the 6th Systemic Sclerosis World Congress and virtual limitations of the online platform, we were unable to present the 2019 award earlier. Watch the recording of the presentation below for a personal message from Maureen Sauvé and SPIN's director, Dr. Brett Thombs!

Congratulations to Catherine Fortuné and Laura Dyas!

Watch the award video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OwAX01zpwEY