How Participating in a Cancer Trial Gave Me a Life Skill That Helps Me Manage My Lupus

Why I Joined a Clinical Trial In this edition of PatientsLikeMe’s series “Why I Joined a Clinical Trial,” we feature the story of Ginger Hermes Ortiz, who has been living with chronic myeloid leukemia and systemic lupus erythematosus. She shares why participating in one trial helped her learn how to manage the mental toll of… Continue reading How Participating in a Cancer Trial Gave Me a Life Skill That Helps Me Manage My Lupus

Being in a Clinical Trial Taught Me a Lot About My Disease

Why I Joined a Clinical Trial In this edition of PatientsLikeMe’s series “Why I Joined a Clinical Trial,” we feature the story of Ay Me Han, age 44, who was diagnosed with systemic lupus erythematosus at age 15. She explains why she’s always eager to participate in new research. My Story: Ay Me Han Every… Continue reading Being in a Clinical Trial Taught Me a Lot About My Disease

From Preclinical to Approval: How Clinical Trials Bring New Treatments to Market

Estimated reading time: 7 minutes Clinical Trials Explained Often, we hear of new treatments becoming available, but have you ever wondered what each new treatment has to go through to get approved by a regulatory body like the FDA? Before a new treatment is approved for commercialization, it needs to go through a meticulous trial… Continue reading From Preclinical to Approval: How Clinical Trials Bring New Treatments to Market

Genomics & Medicine: Your Questions Answered!

Recently, PatientsLikeMe’s Associate Director of Community Management, Brad Hornback, sat down with Dr. Eric Topol (Founder & Director at Scripps Research Translational Institute) and Christine Von Raesefeld (Patient Advocate) to discuss the topic of genomics and medicine, including how genomic data can affect the healthcare journey and how individuals may receive their own DNA results… Continue reading Genomics & Medicine: Your Questions Answered!

It’s Clinical Trials Day, and patients are driving change

Today is Clinical Trials Day – celebrated to bring more attention to public health and also to recognize the contribution of the patients and healthcare professionals who make clinical research possible. At PatientsLikeMe, it’s members who are changing the way clinical trials are designed. Bringing the patient voice to clinical trials has long been part… Continue reading It’s Clinical Trials Day, and patients are driving change

Patients as Partners: John and David share their clinical trial experiences

We’ve been hearing from members of the Team of Advisors about how they’ve used the Partnership Principles in their health journeys. Recently, we sat down with John (Dockstoy), living with ALS, and David (Davidgewirtz), who’s living with lung cancer. John and David are both interested in research and have been involved in a few clinical trials. Below,… Continue reading Patients as Partners: John and David share their clinical trial experiences

How Social Media Is Changing Research (Part II): A Guest Post by MS Clinical Trial Participant and Blogger Jeri Burtchell

Today’s guest post is written by PatientsLikeMe member Jeri Burtchell, who has been living with multiple sclerosis (MS) for 13 years.  A tie dye apparel store owner and mother of two, she writes a blog entitled “Gilenya and Me:  My Story of Being an MS Patient, a Hypochondriac and a Guinea Pig.”  Her patient advocacy… Continue reading How Social Media Is Changing Research (Part II): A Guest Post by MS Clinical Trial Participant and Blogger Jeri Burtchell

How Social Media Is Changing Research (Part I): A Guest Post by MS Clinical Trial Participant and Blogger Jeri Burtchell

Today’s guest post is written by PatientsLikeMe member Jeri Burtchell, who has been living with multiple sclerosis (MS) for 13 years.  A tie dye apparel store owner and mother of two, she writes a blog entitled “Gilenya and Me:  My Story of Being an MS Patient, a Hypochondriac and a Guinea Pig.” Since the original post,… Continue reading How Social Media Is Changing Research (Part I): A Guest Post by MS Clinical Trial Participant and Blogger Jeri Burtchell

Meet ALS “Treat Us Now” Steering Committee Member Tom Murphy

You may remember our interview with ALS advocate Debra Quinn from last fall.  Today, we’d like to introduce you to another ALS patient activist in our midst:  Tom Murphy, a PatientsLikeMe member since January 2011.  As part of the ALS Treat Us Now nonprofit group, Tom and several other ALS patients around the country have… Continue reading Meet ALS “Treat Us Now” Steering Committee Member Tom Murphy