Cambridge, MA, October 19, 2015—PatientsLikeMe has named 14 members to its patient-only 2015–2016 Team of Advisors and challenged them to work through an issue that’s central to everyone in the healthcare system: how to redefine patient partnerships. The team will be focused on rethinking what it means for patients to be partners, and on establishing new ways for the healthcare industry to connect with patients to deliver better care.
PatientsLikeMe CEO Martin Coulter said that in an era when patients must be front and center in healthcare discovery and development, the group’s mission is vital to every patient, pharmaceutical company, regulator, payor and provider. “This advisory team includes some of the strongest patient advocates we have ever met. Their experience can empower other patients, and help those serving patients understand what it means to be a good partner. The team’s work will help create a stronger foundation for a more equal and participatory system of care.
More than 1,400 PatientsLikeMe members submitted applications for this year’s Team of Advisors. Those selected represent a range of medical and professional backgrounds and ages. The nearly equal mix of men and women are living with a cross-section of conditions, including amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), bipolar II, cancer, Type 1 diabetes, fibromyalgia, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), lupus, major depressive disorder (MDD), multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease and post traumatic stress (PTS). Members named to the team include: Christel Aprigliano, Craig Braquet, Jeff Demers, Cyrena Gawuga, David Gewirtz, Phyllis Marchand, John Michael, Gus Prieto, Laura Roix, Patti Sanner, Allison Silensky, Angela Stogner, Doug Thornburg and Peggy Zuckerman.
Christel Aprigliano is living with Type 1 diabetes and believes that the key to a good partnership is a focused, data-driven discussion on what matters most to patients. “Patient reported outcomes are crucial to the healthcare conversation. The more information we can share about what life is like for patients every day, the more questions we can ask each other, and the better we can help patients live well with the disease they have.”
The 2015-2016 Team of Advisors recently kicked off their 12-month collaboration with PatientsLikeMe in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and will convene several times in the coming months. This is the second Team of Advisors the company has formed. Last year, the inaugural group provided feedback to the research team and published a best practices guide that outlines new standards for how researchers can meaningfully engage patients throughout the research process.
About PatientsLikeMe
PatientsLikeMe® (www.patientslikeme.com) is a patient network that improves lives and a real-time research platform that advances medicine. Through the network, patients connect with others who have the same disease or condition and track and share their own experiences. In the process, they generate data about the real-world nature of disease that help researchers, pharmaceutical companies, regulators, providers, and nonprofits develop more effective products, services and care. With more than 350,000 members, PatientsLikeMe is a trusted source for real-world disease information and a clinically robust resource that has published more than 60 peer-reviewed research studies. Visit us at www.patientslikeme.com or follow us via our blog, Twitter or Facebook.
Contact
Margot Carlson Delogne
PatientsLikeMe
mcdelogne@patientslikeme.com
781.492.1039
Congratulations to the new team! As our successors as the second TOA, I am looking forward to the great work you will do!
Letitia
Congratulations to the new team! As our successors as the second TOA, I am looking forward to the great work you will do!
Letitia