We are pleased to announce that Yukiko Nishimura, President and Founder of NPO ASrid (Advocacy Service for Rare and Intractable Diseases’ stakeholders in Japan), has been elected as Vice Chair of the Patient Advocacy Constituent Committee (PACC) for a period of 3 years, starting her mandate on March 1, 2018. In her position as PACC Vice Chair, she is interested in providing a voice to patients in Asia by bringing her experiences as a caretaker parent and her passion for patients, families, and society’s role in research. Yukiko Nishimura has worked with stakeholders from Japan and all over the world for over 10 years. She has been inspired by the way rare disease challenges have been addressed in other parts of the world and aims to support people touched by rare diseases and build bridges across stakeholder groups.
She takes over the Vice Chair position from Béatrice de Montleau, the previous representative from EURORDIS–Rare Diseases Europe, who left IRDiRC after more than 7 years of fruitful collaboration.