Joyce Ma

Joyce Ma was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis in 1976 and Polymyositis in 1981. She is now in remission from RA and Polymyositis but it's never far from her consciousness to be vigilant and to take care of her health.

She is always interested in learning about any new discoveries that help people with Arthritis whether it's diet, medication or new treatment options; to that end, she often attends seminars in her quest to learn as much as she can about arthritis.

Joyce has been a dedicated and active volunteer for The Arthritis Society, involving herself in several fundraising activities. She has been running The Bluebird Shop in the Vancouver Learning Centre since 1994 where she has implemented many successful fundraising campaigns. In addition, as a member of The Vancouver Community Group, she has been successfully managing The Mary Pack Cards program since 2004. Here, she also shares her experiences and how she dealt with arthritis to new patients who are on waiting lists for treatment.

In 2009, Joyce joined the Consumer Advisory Board. Her many contributions include consumer participation in several arthritis research projects and studies, member of the ROAR (Roundtable On Arthritis Research) steering committee, member of the CAB webpage committee, and lay summary reviewer.