Tina is a Crohn’s patient who has accumulated several autoimmune and digestive ailments over the years. She is an avid blogger, speaker, patient thought leader, and researcher who advocates for chronic illnesses, disabilities and life-saving ostomy surgery.
Her expertise includes public health policy, legislative advocacy, clinical and market research in addition to diversity and inclusion to voice the concerns of patients around the world who are suffering in shame, in silence and from significant health disparities. To that end, Tina has co-founded South Asian IBD Alliance, the first patient-clinician led organization in the IBD space to address global disparities in South Asian IBD patient care. Tina also sits on the patient advisory board for the United Ostomy Associations of America in addition to being a founding member of the Diversity, Equity, Accessibility & Inclusion (DEAI) Taskforce within HealtheVoices. She works extensively with IBD Social Circle, Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation, American Gastroenterological Association & American College of Gastroenterology to drive forward the patient voice in GI care.
Tina has spoken at many medical conferences, including Crohn’s & Colitis Congress, Advances in IBD (AIBD), European Crohn’s & Colitis Organization (ECCO), Digestive Disease Week (DDW), & Patients as Partners in Clinical Research. She has spoken at many reputed academic research hospitals, including Cleveland Clinic, University of Michigan, Boston University, Mount Sinai, Weill Cornell Medical College & Allegheny Health Network. She has been published widely in acclaimed journals, including JAMA, Gastroenterology, Clinical Gastroenterology & Hepatology, Inflammatory Bowel Diseases, among many others. Tina has also been featured in The New York Times, Time Magazine, American College of Gastroenterology’s Magazine, Health Magazine, Everyday Health, WebMD, Thrive Global, The Mighty and many more.
Tina’s blog, Own Your Crohn’s, was named a top Crohn’s blog for 2020 by Healthline Media, a top 10 IBD Blog for 2019 by MyTherapyApp.com. Tina’s advocacy work also won the Healio Gastroenterology Disruptive Innovator Award in 2019 in addition to SAIA’s patient advocacy arm, IBDesis, winning the same award in 2023 for moving the needle on GI care. Tina was also featured on the cover of Winter 2021 edition of American College of Gastroenterology Magazine in addition to being featured in the December 2021 edition of Health Magazine. Tina also won the Best Patient Advocacy Award in 2022 from the American College of Gastroenterology. To read her blog posts, visit her blog here.
Tina’s aim is to normalize the rhetoric around chronic illnesses and disabilities and to help patients own their ailment to live fuller, happier lives. She does this by arming patients with the education and knowledge they need to make the best decisions about their care.
Read more about Tina and her health journey on the Welcome Page. For collaborations and/or to leave feedback, please contact her here.
Tina’s blog and content are all original and her own intellectual property. Please do not borrow or reproduce any of Tina’s content without express written permission from Tina.