Moving Mountains for Multiple Myeloma (MM4MM) is a collaboration between CURE Media Group and the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation to raise awareness

On June 28th – 30th, a team of 22 will take on Mount Washington, the highest peak in the northeastern United States and the most prominent peak east of the Mississippi at 6,288 feet above sea level. Known for its extreme weather and popularity in the hiking world, this is a very exclusive opportunity to climb as a team with the MMRF. The team will cover over 4,000 feet of elevation gain on this full day hike and earn serious bragging rights upon reaching the summit. After stopping to enjoy the view and revel in their accomplishment, the team will continue their trek to the Lake of the Clouds hut nestled in the side of the mountain where they enjoy a celebration dinner and spend the night. Sunday is a quick hike down the mountain retracing their steps from their ascent.

Mt. Washington

Why am I participating in this event? I am a cancer doctor, bone marrow transplanter and researcher. I firmly believe in is cause. I love mountains and through this event I get the opportunity to combine my passions and raise awareness and funds for a noble cause.

I will be participating in the Moving Mountains for Multiple Myeloma program in June 2019 by climbing Mount Washington.

Multiple myeloma is the second most common form of blood cancer and, sadly, remains incurable. The goal of research is to find a cure and we will not stop until we reach our goal. While I am getting ready for the challenge in June 2019, I have a lot of work ahead of me. I will climb over 4,000 feet in elevation to reach the summit and raise at least $2,500 for the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation (MMRF).

What is the MMRF? This organization is the world's leading private funder of myeloma research. The Food and Drug Administration has approved 10 new treatments in the past few years – a track record that's unparalleled in the world of oncology. These drugs have significantly improved quality and survival of patients with myeloma. And now the MMRF is funding over 20 additional treatments in various stages of development, giving hope to tens of thousands of patients and their families.

I’m honored to be a part of this medical and academic community working towards a cancer-free world.


Maria Chaudhry

Cancer has impacted my family in multiple ways. It took my grandfather’s life when I was 8 years old and now someone close to me is suffering from multiple myeloma.

In a search for a way to inspire this person to battle this disease and to engage family and friends in raising funds for the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation, I am engaging in the Mount Washington climb.

I hope my daily training will provide a form of support and encouragement. Furthermore, I hope the funding we raise combines into a powerful force to help find innovative treatments and even a cure for multiple myeloma. I am also looking forward to being part of a team of people who share a common interest in battling this disease.

To prepare for the climb, I plan to begin an intensive training program that includes weekly hikes. I want to include my family in this effort, and they will hike along with me during training. The climb has given me something positive to focus on during this challenging time and I am looking forward to the training, the climb and to reaching the top with a deep sense of accomplishment. I am also looking forward to making new friends along the way.

I am thanking to the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation for putting this program together!

David Janes

After having increased, unexplained back pain, my mother, Janet Infante, was told that her pain was coming from a plasmacytoma and was diagnosed with multiple myeloma. I remember talking to my mom on the phone that day when she delivered the news. She somehow remained optimistic even after knowing she had just been diagnosed with cancer. That was her. An optimistic, caring person whose passion for life and family is like no one else I know in my life. This would be the start of the hardest times of her life, yet she somehow stayed positive and hopeful for the future.

Being a teacher and guidance counselor, my mom quickly became well educated on everything related to myeloma. She felt that education for the disease would be one of the most important things when taking on this new battle. She learned everything about the disease, the available treatments and the organizations fighting for a cure. In 2014, she approached my entire family with a dream. She wanted us to run the Disney half marathon and raise donations for the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation (MMRF). At first, everyone was hesitant but with some motivation from my mom, we joined together to complete something none of us had ever thought we’d do. Thinking, back, this was one of the happiest moments of my mom's life. Not only were we running for her, but we were running at Disney, her ‘second home’, and we were raising donations and awareness for the MMRF.

The following years since, my family has participated in the Tri-State MMRF 5k run. Our team started out small but has grown each year with new faces. This race was big for so many reasons. It gave my mom something to look forward to. It gave her hope. It gave her the control to fight back and most of all, it showed her that there are a ton of people out there fighting alongside her. In May of 2018, my mother passed away after eight years of fighting for her life. Our team, Team Janet Strong, ran in honor of her that June and will be doing the same this year and for the years to follow. It will never be the same without her there but the reason we will all do it each year remains the same.

I’m beyond excited for the opportunity to participate in the Moving Mountains for Multiple Myeloma Mount Washington Hike this year. I’m looking forward to the amazing group of people that will be joining me on this trek and raising donations together as a team. No words can express how grateful I am for the MMRF. I know that I can’t bring my mother back by racing or doing charity events, but I also know that this is going to change other people’s lives by helping support this awesome organization.

Michael Campanaro

I joined The Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation (MMRF) in May of 2017 as VP of Business Development, but my association with multiple myeloma goes back to my early days as a scientist at Millennium Pharmaceuticals. I was one of many scientists who had the privilege of working on a novel molecule that would eventually take the name Velcade and gain approval by the Food and Drug Administration for multiple myeloma patients. That work and approval had a lasting impact on me throughout my career as I saw real world examples of how the scientific research and development I participated in impacted people’s lives.

Since that time, I have worked in many areas of science including diagnostics, sales and marketing but have always stayed close to my association with myeloma. Since joining the MMRF, I have been inspired by interactions I have had with patients, caregivers and physicians as they fight and treat multiple myeloma and I look forward to continuing to work hard trying to find a cure for this disease.

I am joining the Moving Mountains for Multiple Myeloma Mount Washington Hike this year to raise awareness and support for all the patients and caregivers that deal with multiple myeloma every day. I also want to honor the father of a close family friend who lost his battle to multiple myeloma a few years ago. Though I did not know him well, his daughter and the rest of their family are still affected by the disease every day.

I look forward to meeting all my fellow climbers and making new friends as we set out on this awesome trek.


Chris Williams

I am doing the Mount Washington hike for my incredible sister Carol, who was diagnosed in early 2018 after about six weeks of excruciating back pain. An MRI revealed several compression fractures in her spine and many other lesions. Watching what she has gone through in the last year has been both soul crushing at times, and inspiring and impressive at others. I’m so glad that I was able to spend a good amount of time with her in the last year. Not an easy task since we live 2,600 miles apart.

I’m blessed with great family and friends. Carol has been so much more than a sister to me. She has been my friend, mother figure, role model and inspiration. Her strength and determination made me want to do something to help. While doing one of my endless internet searches about multiple myeloma, I found the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation site and Moving Mountains for Multiple Myeloma jumped right out at me. To be able to help others through raising donations and awareness while symbolically climbing a mountain in my favorite part of the country was a no brainer.

During Carol’s appointments at Dana Farber Cancer Institute and Winchester Cancer Center I was amazed at the impact research has had in the last decade for this disease. It was clear that the less than inspiring statistics I was seeing on my internet searches were changing right before our eyes.

I’m so excited to join this team for this hike. Making it even better is my best friend will be joining us, too. Bonnie and I have been best friends since middle school. Years and distance haven’t touched our bond. Bonnie is an amazing person and has been so helpful in the last year. Putting up grab bars, fixing various things and delivering ice cream from our favorite dairy in our hometown and, most importantly, being there for both myself and Carol.

I’ve done a lot of running, biking, triathlons and hikes over the years. I’m preparing right now mostly by running and plan on hitting the local “mountains” here in Phoenix as soon as my Air Force Reserve retirement in March has passed, freeing up weekends for hiking fun.

I can’t wait to meet the team in June and conquer Mount Washington together. Together we are helping turn this diagnosis into one of inconvenience and not devastation.

Melissa Pineo

I'm a very lucky British guy married to my American wife, Claire, and we live in Dana Point, California. I decided to do the Moving Mountains for Multiple Myeloma trek to raise money for a cure and to help others that will come after me.

I was diagnosed with myeloma 15 years ago in the summer of 2004 at the age of 44. I had suffered some back pain for a couple of months and after much male procrastination, paralysis set in below my waist which left me with no choice but to seek further medical help. I had an MRI which showed a tumor in my T7 vertebrae. This had grown until it had impinged on my spinal cord which had taken all the feeling from my legs.

Now is where I have to mention that luck was on my side. Lucky to have a tumor? Sounds strange but bear with me. If I had not had the tumor it may well have taken much longer to reach a diagnosis and I could easily have suffered worse kidney problems.

With subsequent blood work and a swift bone marrow aspiration, I was given a diagnosis of multiple myeloma in September 2004. This immediately led to 21 days of focused radiation treatment on my spine here in California to shrink the tumor. Having not been in the USA very long, I had no medical insurance so I was fortunate to fly back to England after the radiation and have my main treatment in the UK.

I was again lucky to live at my parents’ house, enabling me to receive my initial treatment at the local county hospital. This consisted of six months of chemotherapy (VAD) from October 2004 until March 2005 with the prospect of an autologous transplant, but more luck was coming my way.

I was referred to a main London hospital to have the transplant and was then asked if I had any siblings, to which the answer was yes. The luck continued as my sister was a six-for-six match. This gave me the rare opportunity of having an allogenic transplant using her bone marrow. I was warned that the mortality rate for this procedure was around 30% but I reckoned it was my best chance of a long remission.

In the Spring 2005, I had total body irradiation followed by an allogenic transplant. I was in isolation for three weeks to avoid any infections and was able to leave after six weeks. After anti-rejection drugs and a few hiccups along the way, I was able to get back to Claire in California a year later in the Spring 2006. So, 15 years later, I was planning to do the annual UK multiple myeloma-sponsored bike ride from London to Paris which I still hope do in 2020 but I then found the Moving Mountains for Multiple Myeloma web site and decided that trekking up a mountain in New Hampshire sounded good for 2019.

I look forward to meeting up with all my fellow walkers and having a blast trekking up Mount Washington in June.

Richard Bell

As an only child and raised by a single mother, I always knew my mother was strong.

At 9 years old, my mother, Margarita, and God were synonymous in my eyes. Powerful beyond measure and a great cook, her house was the headquarters for family gatherings, Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners.

We had survived renal cell cancer surgery in 2002. It was a trying time, but I admired her courage and tenacity.

I didn’t truly learn how strong she is until she was diagnosed with multiple myeloma in 2011.

Since then, she has embraced every treatment, transplant and clinical trial presented to her with the utmost faith, strength and hope I didn’t know was in her heart. It has been inspiring and a blessing to witness.

On Oct. 21, 2017, I ran the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation (MMRF) Team for Cures 5k in New York City. At the event, my mom’s oncologist was the guest speaker. It was a great turnout and a very heartwarming event. I didn’t realize all the support that the MMRF provides. I love what they did and it inspired me to do more.

After missing it last year, I am filled with gratitude and honored in being selected for the 2019 Mount Washington trek team.

I am grateful for the opportunity to fundraise for this cause. My mom was part of a clinical trial four years ago. Initially, it was extremely taxing on her. Somehow, mid-trial, she managed to cook a perfect Thanksgiving turkey dinner for the family, even though she didn’t have any taste buds. With much success, she has been on the same regimen since. She is evidence that we need to continue research and fund new alternatives to an ultimate cure.

I am climbing Mt. Washington in her honor and all those diagnosed with this disease. For patients’ family members that share the journey and embrace their daily trials with love and a caring heart. Lastly, for the dedicated doctors (Dr. Ajay Chari) and nurses and staff at the Ruttenberg Treatment Center in New York City and many centers like it that have become family in the care they give.

I hope my efforts will help enhance awareness of this disease. I am grateful for all the work that the MMRF is doing to find a cure. To strengthen and help those in need of support and comfort in the everyday challenges with multiple myeloma.

Dennis Castro

My father in law, Lynn, was diagnosed with multiple myeloma in late June 2014. At the time my husband and I were living in Denver, but we had come home in June for a golf tournament (Lynn and my hubby are avid golfers). Lynn had been in terrible pain with what he thought were kidney stones. He had been in and out of the ER and his regular doctor for a few weeks leading up to our visit. True to his nature, Lynn pushed through the pain to participate in the tournament and spend time with us. Although we could tell he was not well, we were hopeful he would pass the stones and everything would return to normal. His doctors ran a series of tests, blood work, MRI's, all that would eventually lead to his multiple myeloma diagnosis. Lynn immediately started treatment.

I was pregnant with our daughter at the time of his diagnosis – this would be Lynn's first grandchild. The pregnancy was a source of joy and distraction during his initial treatment and he was “well enough” to make it out to Denver for her birth. He completed his first stem cell transplant in December 2014 and his second in April 2017. We were lucky enough to be with him during his second transplant in Omaha and now we live just down the street from him. My daughter and he have a great relationship; it's a special bond and to be able to witness it every day is truly amazing. Not that anyone cares, but he took her to see The Little Mermaid this weekend, just the two of them! It's those moments that inspire me to make the trek up Mount Washington.

I found out about the trek through a video my mother-in-law posted on Facebook. I instantly felt a connection to the hiking part having lived in Colorad and was compelled to apply. The fundraising part made me a bit anxious at first but everyone has been extremely generous thus far. One of the coolest things about fundraising has been reconnecting with a few friends from my past who had a multiple myeloma diagnosis in their family, they have made a donation in their family member’s honor.

My family is traveling with me to New Hampshire and will be cheering us all on! I look forward to experiencing this with them and all of you.

Caroline Knuth

I work as a nurse practitioner at Dana Farber Cancer Institute. I currently work in the breast oncology unit but have been an oncology nurse practitioner for 18 years and have cared for many patients with multiple myeloma. The doctor I shared a practice with when I worked at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, which ultimately took his life in 2012.

Roger was an amazing human being and I think about him and miss him every day. I am dedicating my hike to him. I also have friends who have lost loved ones to multiple myeloma and friends who have loved ones currently being treated. When Heather Montgomery (a fellow team member) told me about this hike, I immediately said “Yes, let’s do it!” I have a passion for hiking and for oncology, and to be able to hike to fundraise for cancer research seemed just too good to be true. I see firsthand every day what clinical research can do to change patients’ lives, and I know how important the money is for ongoing research.

Heather and I hiked with our families on New Year’s Day, starting off 2019 right. We are excited to keep training together and to hike Mount Washington with the team in June. I really look forward to meeting all of you soon.

Jennifer McKenna

I will be participating in the Moving Mountains for Multiple Myeloma program in June 2019 by climbing Mount Washington to raise funds and awareness for the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation (MMRF) Team For Cures.

You know that friend that you met when you were very young that still today is in your life and no matter how far apart you may be, they are still just as close?

Well, for me, that person is Melissa Pineo. When I was 11 years old my mom introduced me to one of her bowling friend’s daughters. We quickly became and have stayed best friends. We finished high school as co-captains of the volleyball team, went to college states apart but remained close. Melissa joined the Air Force and moved away. Over the years, though far apart, we get together when we can and pick up right where we left off from the last visit.
Melissa is so much a part of my life, yet I rarely see her in person. I trust Melissa with my life and would do anything for her. Though not blood, she is my life sister.

As we approached our monumental 50th birthdays, we planned to visit Glacier National Park for a week of nature’s beautiful outdoor adventures. However, life had another idea when Melissa’s sister, Carol, was taken to the hospital because she couldn't get out of bed. She was later diagnosed with multiple myeloma. Quickly Melissa jumped on a plane to be by her sister’s side. Our trip was out of the question, of course, but we now had another team quest: to get Carol healthy.

Of course, Carol and many doctors and nurses at Dana Farber and Winchester Hospital did all the work. Carol had many broken and/or fractured bones, and couldn’t move or walk without excruciating pain. Many procedures to stabilize bones, chemo and radiation treatments, and stem cell transplants, Carol was a champ through these very tough and grueling efforts.

Almost a year later, Carol is undergoing transfusions but is now able to walk on her own for short distances. Carol still has many treatments ahead, but she is here and doing far better than a year ago – all thanks to huge efforts by so many medical professionals, MMRF, family and friends.

We were so thankful to have Carol with us for Christmas, when Melissa heard about the MMRF event to raise funds to help continue research and find new treatments for multiple myeloma, she wanted to join. When I heard of the hike, I applied too.

So, after a year of hospitals, ambulances and treatments, Melissa and I are joining forces to hike Mount Washington and raise funds to help the MMRF. We will hike for Carol, for MMRF, our friendship and maybe even a little for our 50th (belated).

I am looking forward to supporting my friend in honor of Carol and climb this mountain to reach our goals.

Bonnie Moore

My uncle was diagnosed with multiple myeloma and my cousin, David, signed up for this event to support his father and asked me to join.

I am grateful to participate and support both my uncle and cousin. I am looking forward to helping the great work that Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation is doing – and spreading the word for more awareness of both multiple myeloma and the work the organization is doing.

I’ve enjoyed spending time with my cousin in a way that helps him cope, meet new people and gain new perspective and insight into how others have been affected by multiple myeloma.

Nancy Hamad

I am the senior director at Celgene, and am an experienced health care professional with the unique experience of working in managed care settings in the US and in the pharmaceutical settings in Asia.

I am excited to take my experience into the field to walk alongside the patient and caregivers on the Mt. Washington team. I am most looking forward to connecting with those for which my work directly benefits.

Swasti Bal

My husband, Richard Arango, Jr., passed on July of last year after fighting over three years with multiple myeloma.

We found out about Moving Mountains for Multiple Myeloma through my daughter’s friend, Becky Howe, who did it last year for him, too.

I wanted to do this since we knew about it because we need more research. Now I am doing it in his memory and for other friends we met in this battle who are still out there fighting. I am looking to raise as much as I can for the foundation and help those who will be with me in this event to fight for them too.

Lauren Arango

Born in the Pacific Northwest and raised amid the Cascade Mountain peaks of Oregon, I began my formal mountaineering education in 1999 when I joined the Mazamas, a mountaineering group founded on the summit of Oregon’s Mt Hood in 1895, and based in Portland.

Since then, I have participated in virtually every training course offered by the Mazamas. My climbing resume includes over 75 summits in the Cascade Mountains of the Pacific Northwest, the 14’ers of Colorado, the Sierra Nevada of California, the Alps of Europe, the Himalaya of Nepal and Bhutan, and the Andes of South America.

I have led or assisted in the leadership of expeditions to Kilimanjaro in East Africa; Everest Base Camp and Annapurna Basecamp in Nepal; Bhutan; Chile; Argentina; Ecuador; and The Middle East. Notable summits above 14,000’ include Mt. Shasta (14,180’), Long’s Peak (14,259), Mt. Rainier (14,411), Mt. Whitney (14,505’), Kilimanjaro (19,341’), Cotopaxi (19,348’), and Imja Tse (20,305’).

Throughout my life in the mountains, I’ve learned the value of preparation, patience and determination in achieving goals. In mountaineering, as in life, I have come to appreciate the wisdom in the phrase “it doesn’t have to be fun, to be fun.”

Jim Ronning

My drive to do this event is the wonderful opportunity to blend two things that I absolutely love in life: hiking mountains and helping patients with cancer.

I have been directly involved in cancer care for the past 16 years and fortunate to be part of one of the nation’s largest oncology provider networks – The US ONCOLOGY Network, working for Texas Oncology in Paris, Texas. Our company, Texas Oncology, administers about half of all cancer care in Texas, with 175 locations and more than 420 physicians. I am also one of two founders of “Together we CAN make a difference” cancer support group, which allowed me to know my patients to a much deeper level.

Recently, my special friend Cindy Martin is actively going through multiple myeloma and I had the privilege to be in touch with her feelings, fears and her tremendous will power to fight this cancer and continue to live her life.

Climbing a mountain has so many similarities as the challenge of going through cancer. You can find yourself at the bottom of a mountain, wondering if you are ever going to make it to the top, doubting that you might not have enough energy to do it or thinking fearfully of a long list of bad things that might happen. But once on the top of that mountain, a deep feeling of accomplishment will take over you, mixed with the powerful feeling of “I DID IT!” and a complete confidence that you can conquer anything in life. Somehow, I wish all these “top-of-the-mountain” feelings and positive energy to be sent to Cindy and all my patients that struggle in their battle with cancer.

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