Lipedema Canada

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Lipedema Canada Lipedema Canada is the national association for Canadians with lipedema. We are a registered charitable, not-for-profit organization.

We are dedicated to making real change for the lipedema community.

10/01/2026

It was incredible to be in the room with so many others just like us. Thank you to all of you who participated ❤️. The first BIG step, not the last.

10/01/2026

Together we made history.

At LipCanCon 2026, the Lipedema Canada conference held in Winnipeg from September 10 to 12, 2026, patients found understanding, clinicians found pathways forward, and policymakers saw why lipedema care matters. For the first time, we were all in one room, and Canadian lipedema care took its first major step forward.

There is more ahead. We're improving our website and provider database, with more to come soon. Thank you for your support, and stay tuned for new ways to get involved.

lipedemacanada.org

09/21/2026

Lipedema Canada was built by people living with the condition. Never forget the power of lived experience and the determination to not accept the status quo. Long live advocates.

♥️♥️♥️ global collaboration ♥️♥️
09/18/2026

♥️♥️♥️ global collaboration ♥️♥️

As we rest our feet and take stock of LipCanCon 2026, we want to start our recap where it belongs: with the people who m...
09/17/2026

As we rest our feet and take stock of LipCanCon 2026, we want to start our recap where it belongs: with the people who made it happen.

Lipedema Canada is run entirely by volunteers. Every session and every detail of this conference exists because our board of directors gave their time, skill, and heart to it, on top of their own jobs, families, and lives.

Emma Cloney, Angel Anderson, Holly Hedd, Helene Papadolias, Raena Zapp, Dr. Kaitlin Cyr, Dr. Delphine Boury, and Jess Erzinger: thank you. Whether you were on the stage in Winnipeg or working from afar, this achievement is yours.

More conference highlights to come.

Emma Cloney, Winner of the 2026 Lipedema Luminary "Changemaker" Award. For the people who push for change, in big rooms ...
09/16/2026

Emma Cloney, Winner of the 2026 Lipedema Luminary "Changemaker" Award. For the people who push for change, in big rooms or small ones, and refuse to let lipedema be dismissed.

Nomination

Emma is the driving force behind Lipedema Canada. Her passion for meaningful change did not stop at conversations. She took action, transforming an idea into a national organization that is changing the lives of thousands of Canadians living with lipedema.

Emma is the voice of our community. She has brought together patients, healthcare professionals, researchers, and advocates to create a movement that continues to grow across the country. Her leadership inspires our Board of Directors, our volunteers, and countless people living with lipedema to believe that change is possible.

The thousands of volunteer hours Emma has given to Lipedema Canada are remarkable. She offers her time, expertise, and heart without hesitation, often working behind the scenes to keep the organization thriving.

Her contributions go well beyond leadership. Her medical knowledge ensures our educational resources are accurate and evidence-based. She designed, built, and maintains our website, an invaluable resource for patients and healthcare providers. She is also the creative talent behind our branding and graphic design, producing educational, advocacy, social media, and conference materials that have elevated the organization's credibility and reach.

Whether advocating with government officials, supporting newly diagnosed patients, mentoring volunteers, or developing resources for healthcare professionals, Emma combines strategic leadership, technical skill, creativity, and compassion in a way that is truly unique.

Lipedema Canada exists today because Emma refused to accept that people living with lipedema should suffer in silence. Her vision has given hope to thousands of Canadians and laid the foundation for lasting change in healthcare, awareness, education, and advocacy.

Her tireless dedication, exceptional leadership, and unwavering belief that every person living with lipedema deserves recognition and equitable care make her profoundly deserving of this award.

Prof. (PD) Dr. med. Mojtaba Ghods and Dr. Giw Mostofizadeh-Haghighi are the winners of the 2026 Lipedema Luminary Trailb...
09/16/2026

Prof. (PD) Dr. med. Mojtaba Ghods and Dr. Giw Mostofizadeh-Haghighi are the winners of the 2026 Lipedema Luminary Trailblazer Award, for a contribution to the lipedema community spanning years, or a lifetime. (Sponsored by Obesity Canada).

Nomination

Few names in the global lipedema landscape carry the weight of Dr. Ghods and Dr. Giw. For more than fifteen years, this team has sat at the very front of lipedema research. Their papers form part of the evidentiary backbone of lipedema education worldwide, giving clinicians in other countries the confidence to speak about this disease.

Through rigorous research, they have reshaped what the world understands about lipedema surgery, not as a cosmetic intervention but as a medical one that reduces pain, restores mobility, and measurably improves quality of life. Their role in the LIPLEG study will, I believe, become the reference point that moves lipedema surgery from contested to accepted, and from privately funded to insured, in health systems worldwide.

Yet I am nominating them less for their publication record than for what they chose to do with it. Dr. Ghods and his entire team travelled to Canada at their own expense to teach in a country with no lipedema curriculum, carrying knowledge missing from Canadian medical education for eighty years. They gave it to our physicians, nurse practitioners, allied health providers, and patients directly, freely, and with real enthusiasm.

Trailblazing is a word we use loosely. Here it is precise. They walked into a country with no path and left one behind them.

Rosanna Damiano Winner of the 2026 Lipedema Luminary "Spotlight" Award, for the people who make lipedema impossible to i...
09/16/2026

Rosanna Damiano Winner of the 2026 Lipedema Luminary "Spotlight" Award, for the people who make lipedema impossible to ignore, in whatever corner of the world they reach.

– Nomination –
In early 2024, only weeks after Lipedema Canada had formally become a not for profit organization, Rosanna Damiano reached out. First by email, then by phone, simply to connect. As Vice President of Galien Group, better known here as Bauerfeind Canada, Rosanna had spent years working in the lymphedema space, and in that time she had seen with her own eyes how many lipedema patients were going without care, without compression, and without meaningful access to the health system. She did not wait to be asked. She reached out to a brand new organization with almost nothing to its name and offered to help. What began as a sponsorship became a mentorship, then a friendship, and then a genuine partnership. Rosanna learned this disease quickly and thoroughly, and her contribution moved well past the financial almost immediately. She became invested in this community in a way that sponsors simply do not. Alongside her husband Michael and their entire team, she has made possible a long list of things Lipedema Canada could never have done alone. I will say it plainly. Without Michael and Rosanna, we would not be standing here tonight, and we most certainly would not have pulled off the first ever Lipedema Canada conference. No task has ever been beneath her and no request has ever been treated as an imposition. Her dedication shows in everything she and her team touch. Bauerfeind Canada could have been a logo on a banner. Instead, Rosanna, Michael, and the entire Galien Group family chose to become part of this community and to carry its weight alongside us. They are far more than a brand and far more than sponsors. They are community champions in the truest sense, and it is my honour to nominate them for the Spotlight Award.

Janelle-Marie Emond Winner of the 2026 Lipedema Luminary "Educator" Award, for the people who help others understand l...
09/16/2026

Janelle-Marie Emond Winner of the 2026 Lipedema Luminary "Educator" Award, for the people who help others understand lipedema, in whatever way they do it and whoever they reach. (Sponsored by Lipedema Manitoba Association)

– Nomination –
Since her Lipedema diagnosis in 2021, Janelle-Marie has transformed her personal health journey into a powerful platform for advocacy. She is a tireless educator, consistently working to bridge the knowledge gap surrounding this condition. Whether she is distributing educational materials or sharing her personal story, Janelle-Marie ensures that every person she encounters leaves with a deeper understanding of Lipedema. Beyond her advocacy, she is a pillar of support for others in the community. Despite the complexities of her own health journey, she remains an incredibly empathetic listener and a source of strength for those around her. Janelle-Marie’s dedication to raising awareness, combined with her genuine compassion, makes her an exemplary leader and a truly deserving candidate for this award.

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Winnipeg, MB

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