Our Team
Krishnan Family Foundation
Parvathy Krishnan
Executive Director
Parvathy is a Rare Disease Specialist and healthcare professional with a Masters in Clinical Nutrition. Parvathy is an expert in Patient Advocacy and Patient caregiver education. She is a passionate Advocate for Patient – family centered rounds with special focus on Mental Health for children with medically complex needs and caregivers. After both her children were diagnosed with multiple rare/ultra rare and nano rare diseases, Parvathy has dedicated her life to empowering people worldwide to advocate for themselves no matter their location or diagnosis. In addition to her various professional roles Parvathy is dedicated to giving back by actively participating in local hospital boards, and industry and community groups, ensuring quality patient/family engagement across various sectors. Parvathy is an Accomplished leader with experience managing teams, building strategic partnerships and breaking barriers in patient advocacy. Parvathy serves on national and international boards and working groups specializing in DEI focused patient advocacy. She serves as advisory board member of the UDN Foundation and Team Telomere. She also serves as the Executive Director for the Krishnan Family Foundation focused on research,scientific advancement and patient/family support for CMMRD- a genetic cancer predisposition syndrome.
Board Members
Candi Bush
Board Member
Candi Bush currently serves as a Special Services Consultant for the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, under the Children’s Special Health Care Services Division. After over nine years as the Director of the Family Center for Children and Youth with Special Health Care Needs (Family Center) Candi has taken a step back from her directorship role to focus on her and her family’s health and well-being. Prior to her role as the Director at the Family Center served for nine years as the Executive Director of a non-profit called Parent to Parent of Southwest Michigan. Candi currently serves on multiple boards and committees throughout the State of Michigan, as well as the national Parent to Parent USA Board of Directors. In 2018, Candi was a recipient of the Association of Maternal and Child Health Programs (AMCHP) Emerging MCH Professional Award for Region V. Candi was honored as the Outstanding Alumni of the Year for Western Michigan University in 2016. Since 2016, Candi served as the Family Coordinator, faculty, and a mentor for Michigan’s Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities program. Candi was accepted into the 2015-2016 Leadership Lab through the AMCHP, Family Leadership Cohort. In 2014, Candi was named as the Family Delegate for the State of Michigan. Candi was also the recipient of the 2012 Exceptional Parent of the Year through the Michigan Council for Exceptional Children. Candi is married and has two young adult sons. Candi and her family live in MI. Candi loves spending time with family and friends, hiking, yoga, gardening, fur babies, being near the water, volunteering, and traveling. Last year at 47 years old Candi learned that she had Lynch syndrome after advocating for genetic testing due to some other health issues that she was having…which then led to her first colonoscopy. That’s when her colorectal surgeon shared that she already had colon cancer. Candi’s two sons were then tested and diagnosed with Lynch syndrome as well. She is a survivor and a fighter and is using her personal and professional experience to increase awareness and education in the genetic cancer predisposition space.
Meghan Fox
Board Member
Meghan is a Certified Child Life Specialist with education and clinical training in the
developmental, emotional, and physical impact of illness and injury on children, teens, and parents. Her background includes working at UNC Hospitals in Chapel Hill, NC for 13 years as both a Child Life Specialist and a Support Program Coordinator helping children and families cope with the stress and uncertainty of a new diagnosis, acute and chronic illness, disability, injury, trauma, loss, and grief. She currently works as the Program Director with the Me Fine Foundation, a non-profit organization that provides emotional support and financial assistance to families whose children are receiving care and experiencing a medical crisis at North Carolina Partner Hospitals, helping them build resilience at a time when they need it most.
Meghan has a true passion for supporting and advocating for patients with rare diseases and
their families as they experience medical challenges, grief, loss, and a change in normalcy.
Meghan was once told by a patient to “always see the beauty in everything.” Ever since then,
she has tried to live her life with this perspective. She is thankful for a career that allows her to see that every day.
Anand Swamy
Board Member
Anand Swamy (Anand) is the EVP and Head – Tech and ISV Ecosystems at HCLTech. He is part of the executive team and manages seven distinct business units focusing on driving technology strategies to help customers supercharge their digital transformation objectives.
In his current role, Anand has helped grow Tech and ISV Ecosystem business units more than eleven times in the last five years.
He has extensive experience and has played leadership roles across sales, pre-sales, consulting, and alliances. This gives him the unique ability to bridge the gap between planning, strategy, technology, and creativity while delivering measurable results and driving customer satisfaction.
Very passionate about disruptive technologies that positively impact people’s lives and fundamentally change the way we live. Anand has been successful in business leadership positions, working with Fortune 500 companies to achieve strong growth and create a customer-centric culture empowering teams to collaborate effectively.
He has an MBA in Finance and Marketing and has completed an executive leadership program at Harvard. A marathon runner, Formula 1, and NFL aficionado, Anand lives in Boston, MA.
His mission is to make a lasting difference in the world through innovation, collaboration, and sustainability. Anand is also passionate about two causes – raising awareness about childhood cancer and diabetes. He strives to bring a glimmer of hope to the lives of those impacted by these devastating diseases through his work with various non-profits.
Sam Rose
Board Member
Sam Alexandra Rose is a published author currently undertaking her PhD in creative writing and cancer survivorship. She has CMMRD and has had three different types of cancer – colon, duodenal and uterine. Sam is the Patient and Public Involvement Manager at the charity Bowel Research UK and previously spent ten years working in digital marketing.
Advisors
Melissa Edwards
Advisor
Melissa Edwards currently serves as the Project Manager for the International Replication Repair Deficiency Consortium (IRRDC). Melissa initially joined the consortium in 2016 as a project coordinator, where she had the privilege of working directly with many our amazing patients and their families. Recognizing the transformative power of their experiences, she transitioned into the role of project manager, where she currently oversees both local and international collaborations, while also managing key components of the consortium’s infrastructure. She is strongly committed to ensuring that our patients and families serve as the cornerstone to all aspects of our clinical and research program and is incredibly excited to join the Krishnan Family Foundation as an advisor.
Vanessa Bianchi
Medical/Scientific Advisor
Dr. Vanessa Bianchi is the Program Manager for the International Replication Repair Deficiency Consortium (IRRDC) at The Hospital for Sick Children. With a focus on tackling the aggressive cancer predisposition syndrome CMMRD, Vanessa manages an international clinical study and biorepository with over 600 participants from 50 countries. Her leadership has led to transformative outcomes for CMMRD patients, including the development of novel diagnostic tools, assessment of surveillance protocols, and identification of genomic biomarkers for immune-based therapies. Vanessa‘s commitment to patient advocacy and her role in shaping program strategies demonstrates her dedication to advancing research and improving patient outcomes in the field of oncology.