About Us

Patricia started at NTMir as the office administrator before moving into the role of Community Engagement Director. She came on board after many years at the corporate executive office of a Miami-based international travel and leisure company, bringing more than 35 years of experience as a manager and legal assistant with a proven record of success in providing clear communication and customer service skills, and the empathy and compassion to interact with diverse populations.

Patricia moved to South Florida from Virginia in the mid-70s when her father was stationed at Homestead Airforce Base, and currently resides in Pinecrest with her two rescue dogs, Miso and Sweetpea.

Vanessa previously worked at a well-established Miami law firm where she handled their billing, budgeting, case load and front-facing customer service. While in school, she worked at a global company specializing in packaging and container solutions. She is also a certified medical assistant. Outside of work, Vanessa enjoys spending time with her three sons and her daughter. She was born and raised in Miami, FL and is bilingual in English and Spanish.

Philip Leitman likes to tell people that the most important job he ever had was caring for his late wife, Fern, who was ill for nearly two decades with a complex resistant Mycobacterium Abscessus pulmonary infection. His passion is helping NTM patients individually and through NTM Info & Research (NTMir), an organization he and his late wife co-founded in 2002.

Philip moved to Miami, Florida from Canada in 1990, where had been the CEO of his own company. In addition, Philip has served as a Vice Chair of the Council of National Trustees of National Jewish Medical and Research Center, as a Board Member of the American Lung Association of Southeast Florida, and a Board Member of SeniorCare Meals on Wheels.

Philip and his wife Nancy, their children and grandchildren live in Miami, Florida.

Amy Leitman is the President of NTM Info & Research, a nonprofit advocacy group for patients with pulmonary nontuberculous mycobacterial disease. The daughter of a patient with NTM lung disease, she has spent the last decade championing the voice of the patient.

In her role, Amy represents the interests and perspectives of patients, healthcare providers, researchers, industry, and other interested stakeholders, serves as a liaison to legislators, regulators, and independent organizations seeking patient input, and speaks at multi-stakeholder meetings. She has presented original patient preference research and is a co-author of several papers on NTM lung disease. As NTMir’s representative to the NTM Research Consortium, Amy has collaborated on patient-centered and epidemiologic research.

Prior to joining NTM Info & Research, Amy spent many years working in communications and marketing, including for an NBA team where she oversaw the revision and relaunch of their website as well as the development of gameday collateral materials, and a major community nonprofit organization that mobilized human and financial resources to strengthen local and international community social safety nets.

Amy is a member of the American Thoracic Society, the Infectious Diseases Society of America, the American College of Chest Physicians (CHEST), the American Society for Microbiology, the European Respiratory Society, and the Drug Information Association.

A native of Montreal, Canada, Amy grew up in Toronto before moving to Miami, Florida where she earned her Bachelor of Arts and Juris Doctor from the University of Miami.