Message from our New Chairman of the Board!

I am honored to have been chosen as the new chairman of the HCMA Board of Directors. 

Some of you may know me as Cynaburst from the HCMA message board where I have served as a moderator for the last several years.  I have practiced law in Los Angeles for the past two decades, most of which has been focused on copyright law in the legal department of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.  I am a proud native of New Orleans, an avid Saints fan, wife of Vince and mother of our eight-year-old son, Jesse.

I have been a member of the HCMA since I was diagnosed with HCM almost 11 years ago.  HCM has always been part of my life.  I am named after the grandfather I never knew, who died suddenly due to undiagnosed HCM.  When I was 10, my uncle lost consciousness and drowned while swimming in the ocean -- also due to HCM.  Two years ago, I lost my father, who had suffered from complications of HCM for 40 years.

It is my fundamental goal that with the help of the HCMA, families and patients, including myself, will receive proper treatment for their HCM and may be spared the heartache that HCM has inflicted on my family.

This year marks the start of a decade of growth and expansion for the HCMA.  There is a whole new population of gene-positive people who are not yet officially HCM patients, but who are in need of guidance and information about HCM.  All of us can play a role in bringing information to doctors, newly diagnosed patients and the public, as well as helping to expand our organization so that the HCMA may serve our growing numbers.

I look forward to working with each and every one of you in the days and months to come.

Best wishes for a happy, prosperous and of course a healthy 2010!