Murray Walz

Murray Walz

I have been married for 56 years with two daughters, 4 grandchildren and 1 great granddaughter. My career was in managing food, petfood, animal feed and biodiesel plants. Graduated with MBA from Wilfred Laurier. Managed 3 plant start ups then progressed to Consulting and project management. Plants were in North America, Mexico, Columbia, and Denmark.

After being diagnosed in 2019 with idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis, I found out that life expectancy was 3 to 5 years. From my background I knew the only hope to find cures is through research. I found online a great Doctor who had a chair at McMaster, edited the European Respirology Journal, researched at Firestone Clinic, and took on patients.  He agreed to take me on and together we found a clinical drug trial for me. I also volunteered for Research Projects to better understand Pulmonary Fibrosis and to ensure early diagnosis.

To promote patient centered care, I became a Patient advisor to St. Joes Hospital Hamilton, the Greater Hamilton Healthcare Network, Oxford OHT, and to the Medical Board of the Canadian Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation. To share my story and increase awareness and value of clinical trials, I joined the Clinical Trials of Ontario College of Lived Experience.