As part of our 30th anniversary we asked for nominations from our community to share their pituitary heroes: people who have gone above and beyond for the pituitary community.
We received 70 nominations and our panel of judges then chose our 30 heroes. It was tough to decide as there were many incredible nominees. Our Pituitary Heroes are the people that have given an exceptional contribution to the pituitary community or are working to create a better future. Through this campaign, we want to thank them and celebrate them!
We will be sharing details about each of the 30 heroes throughout the rest of our 30th year. You can read their stories below, or follow us on social media to find out more!
Click on the heroes names to read more about them and their full story.
Risa August
Risa published a book, “The Road Unpaved”, sharing her personal journey with acromegaly. Through her book and cycling trail of 1,845 miles down the Pacific coast of the US, she contributed to raise awareness about pituitary tumours and inspired many others affected by pituitary conditions.
Peter O’Malley
Peter shares his story of being diagnosed with a pituitary tumour at age fourteen and how this has affected his adult life, while learning from his experience not to give up but stay positive and keep going. Peter has been a volunteer for our helpline for many years, being there to listen and support others affected by a pituitary condition.
Robert Brady
Robert is a Volunteer area coordinator for the Ireland support Group in January 2015. He connects and offers support to all newly diagnosed patients and his work has highly contributed to the awareness and support available to people in Ireland, which was previously not as wide as the UK one.
Hannah Mai
Hannah, while battling with her own health issues, has started the Coventry support group and successfully managed to offer others a safe place to meet, connect and find support. She presented her own story on multiple platforms and events, contributing to raising awareness and inspiring many other people.
Sue Jackson
Sue is a chartered psychologist with a special interest in pituitary conditions. She has spoken at multiple online events for our Foundations, she has been heavily involved in research and she has written articles for our magazine, the Pituitary Life, thus contributing to spreading information amongst our community.
Gail Weingartner
Gail has been involved in our Foundation for over 30 years. She has helped create our support groups as we know them today, and she still volunteers as a local support group co-ordinator. Her passion and constant support have helped many others affected by a pituitary condition who had been recently diagnosed and did not know where to turn to.
Miles Levy
Miles Levy is a consultant endocrinologist and Honorary Professor of Clinical Endocrinology at the University of Leicester Hospitals NHS Trust. He has led the initiative to change the name of Diabetes Insipidus to AVP-Deficiency around the world. His research interests include the pituitary and adrenal gland, and genetics of endocrine tumours.
Pat McBride
Pat has been with the Foundation since 1999. While being a patient herself at the same time, she has worked tirelessly at the Foundation, providing information to newly diagnosed members, being on the helpline and running the Liverpool pit pat group. She is known to many, in the field of Endocrinology, volunteers, patients and corporate companies.
Marie Conley
Marie is the leader of a support group for patients with Cushing’s and s the founder of the Conley Cushing’s fund. She shares her story of Cushing’s Disease with humor and resilience, advocating for early diagnosis and supporting patients through her foundation and board positions. She has helped bringing together and supporting people with Cushing’s and she is a strong advocate for those with the disease.
Steve Harris
Steve initiated the Birmingham Pituitary Patient Support Group back in 1995 and headed this very successfully for many years. He has been a Telephone Buddy, proof reader, given website support, taken part in training events, spoken as an ‘expert patient’, attended professional medical seminars and conferences on behalf of the Foundation.
