• I offer a FREE Initial Consultation
• I offer TeleAdvocacy Service
• My geographical area of practice is Washington, DC / Maryland

I am a passionate patient advocate and healthcare consultant with a unique perspective to bring to the table – one forged through my personal battles with several chronic illnesses and my professional experience in multiple healthcare settings.

My journey as a chronic illness patient began in an ICU hospital bed over a decade ago when I was diagnosed with severe ulcerative colitis, a form of Inflammatory Bowel Disease. This critical moment, coupled with years immersed in the US healthcare system thereafter, ignited my passion for bringing awareness to the nuanced needs of patients, especially those living with chronic conditions, while navigating our complicated and often inaccessible healthcare system.

A pivotal moment in my career was my time as the Lead Patient Advocate working with a digital health company to create an AI-based mobile app for IBD patients. My main role was advising the team about the IBD patient experience and identifying specific resources and other means of support that patients would need for the mobile app to effectively and meaningfully improve their health journeys and quality of life.

This experience of providing integral feedback to assist in developing such a powerful tool helped me realize how I wanted to focus my patient advocacy career – to improve patients' health journeys by collaborating with healthcare industry professionals, such as digital health companies and other healthcare solutions innovators, to evaluate and provide strategic feedback on their patient care-related resources, platforms, and products while also driving success for those partners.

This calling led me to establish my consulting company, Empower Health Strategies, which leverages the patient perspective to accomplish that exact mission. We specialize in guiding the development of resources and tools created for patients living with chronic illness, especially those with GI conditions such as Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD).

I envision a healthcare landscape where healthcare providers and healthcare innovators, organizations, and companies are empowered and equipped with knowledge of the holistic patient experience so they can effectively provide their patients/users with comprehensive, meaningful, and human-centric support throughout their health journeys.