This summer PLF welcomed three new members to our Board of Directors: Christina Fuhrman, Rich Dexter and Dr. Bruce Hirsch.

Christina Fuhrman a stay-at-home mom who lives in Columbia, MO with her husband Dane, son Oren (2), and daughter Pearl (4). She and Pearl are both C. diff survivors. Christina offers local support to those battling C. diff and created a website, www.mygijourney.org, for information on C. diff and FMT treatment. Pearl’s C. diff story was featured in Parents magazine in February 2018. In addition to her work with PLF, Christina is a member of Pew Charitable Trust’s Stand Up to Superbugs program.

Rich Dexter joined the Peggy Lillis Advocates Council in 2015, where he contributes to advocacy in our nation’s capital and with local fundraising. Rich and his family lost their mother Judy to C. diff in the Spring of 2013. Since then, the Dexters and their friends have held an annual picnic honoring their mother that has raised over $90,000 to date for PLF. In 2014, the Dexter Family was recognized with PLF’s first-ever Advocates Award. Rich has his own contracting business and lives in Maryland with his wife, Karen, two boys Jake and Cam and the dogs Cinder and Brewster.

Together, Christina and Rich are co-chairs of Peggy Lillis Foundation’s National Advocates Council.

Dr. Bruce Hirsch as been serving the community of the New York metropolitan area as a physician for over 30 years. Bruce received his MD from Cornell University and trained in geriatrics and infectious disease at North Shore University Hospital, Cornell and Albert Einstein. Currently, he is attending physician and assistant professor in the Infectious Disease Division of Northwell Health. Bruce worked through the HIV crisis from its earliest manifestations in New York and has maintained a strong interest in HIV. More recently, he has pioneered microbiome medicine for the treatment of gut infections at the NSLIJ. He has a long-standing interest in innovative therapeutics, having chaired the NSLIJ Committee on Pharmacy and Therapeutics, and holds a patent for an infection control device. In 2014, Bruce received PLF’s Innovator Award for his development of a fecal transplant capsule.