MFC’s story begins with the loss of Kathryn Blain’s son Michael Longo, who passed away on May 9, 1995—merely four days after saying he was feeling unwell.
In the wake of this tragedy, Kathryn was left with questions but no answers. Why did Michael die? Why did so much medical attention at a Toronto hospital amount to so little? How could this have been prevented? In trying to understand what had happened to her son, Kathryn realized there was very little information available.
Two years later, during an outbreak of meningitis in Kitchener/Waterloo, Kathryn saw the opportunity to start building what would become Meningitis Foundation Canada. Doing so would help provide others with the support and information that Kathryn lacked at the time of her son’s death.
After reaching out to others in the community who saw the need for a national organization, and several meetings over breakfast in Kathryn’s kitchen, an executive core took shape, and MFC was born.
In 2020, we changed our name from Meningitis Research Foundation of Canada to Meningitis Foundation Canada.
In the years since its inception, MFC has become an advocate for meningitis research and vaccinations, a source of health information, and a support system for people who have experienced meningitis in their own lives.
MFC is involved in ongoing advocacy efforts around vaccines and has advocated for the inclusion of meningococcal and pneumococcal vaccines in public programs in Ontario, B.C., and Alberta. It has also provided keynote speakers for public events to raise further awareness.
In addition to public awareness efforts, the MFC has successfully raised funds that are put towards public education and research. This financial support has allowed for the creation of funded fellowships in vaccinology at Dalhousie University and the University of British Columbia. Fellows at each site have become full-time professors, with one becoming Canada’s leading researcher on the epidemiology of meningococcal disease.
MFC is a founding committee member of CoMO (Confederation of Meningitis Organisations) and has participated on both its steering committee and board of directors.
MFC also helps fund the CAIRE (Canadian Association for Immunization Research and Evaluation) Research Roundtable.
© 2026 Meningitis Foundation Canada.
