PRISMS is an initiative run by Oxford Health Policy Forum, a not-for-profit community interest company registered in England and Wales (registration number: 10475240). Oxford Health Policy Forum is dedicated to the development and continuing support of initiatives to improve global public health, whenever an unmet medical need exists.
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Trishna Bharadia is a multi-award winning patient advocate and patient engagement advisor who received a diagnosis of MS in 2008, aged 28. Based in the UK, Trishna works nationally and internationally with multiple stakeholders, including healthcare professionals, the life sciences industry, charities, patient associations and non-profit organizations, to get the patient voice heard louder, stronger and more effectively throughout the healthcare journey and medicines development lifecycle. She’s particularly passionate about diversity issues in healthcare, good patient engagement practices and health literacy. She is also a patron/ambassador for several health- and disability-related organizations, including MS Society UK, ParaDance UK, ADD International and Lyfebulb.
I am very pleased to be part of the PRISMS initiative as I believe it is supremely important for people living with MS to have the opportunity to learn, on a global platform, from each other and MS experts so as to be able to better manage their condition. PRISMS will help to achieve this.
Ardra Shephard lives in Toronto, Canada. She is the blogger behind the award-winning Tripping on air: my trip through life with MS, in which she shares her experience of living with MS. She uses glamour to address the stigma surrounding disability. Ardra is a writer, consultant and speaker who has contributed to FASHION magazine, InStyle, the National MS Society’s Momentum Magazine, msconnection.org and others. In 2019, she was the keynote speaker at the MS Foundation of the Cayman Islands gala fundraiser, and in 2020 she spoke at the On the Move event of the MS Society in Washington DC. Ardra is on a mission to change minds about what it means to live with a disability and to empower those with chronic illness to stake their place in the world.
I’m thrilled to be partnering with PRISMS and MS experts from around the world to share knowledge and first-hand experience of MS.
Anjali Vyas is a 29-year-old warrior living with MS since 2014. She is a Chemical Engineer by qualification and an IELTS Trainer by profession. She has been volunteering with the MS Society of India (MSSI) since 2018 and was appointed Joint Secretary, Pune Chapter in 2019. Anjali has been raising awareness about MS and advocating for the rights of people with MS since 2015, and was named India MS Person of the year in 2021. Her activities included educating students about MS; raising awareness of MS among 500 General Practitioners in Pune as part of World MS Day 2018; campaigning via the Office of the Prime Minister of India to demand affordable MS treatment nationwide; and starting a petition on change.org, with the support of MSSI, to ask for a national registry of MS in India. She has represented the MSSI at numerous platforms, disability organisations and national consultations. Anjali also writes stories about the lives of people with MS, which she posts on LinkedIn. Her own MS testimonial was published by the NCD Alliance and by the EKansh Trust. She is a regular guest on the YouTube channel MSguide.com, where she speaks about MS and its social impact in India. In her free time, Anjali enjoys cooking and singing.
Platforms such as PRISMS can help create a diverse and sustainable environment for people with MS. They not only motivate, but also empower patient advocates like me. From building greater awareness to educating people on MS, such platforms are powerful tools to improve the quality of life of people with MS globally.
Ian Rogers graduated from the University of Kent, UK with a BA(Hons) in History. He subsequently qualified as an accountant and spent much of his career in the UK public sector, including a five-year secondment to the House of Commons working for a Select Committee. From 2009 to 2017, Ian provided training and support, covering Parliamentary scrutiny of Government finances, to a number of countries, including Myanmar, Ukraine, Kosovo and Lebanon. Ian took early retirement in late 2017. He has been living with MS since 2004. He has made presentations to patients, healthcare professionals and pharmaceutical companies on his experience of living with MS and his experience of participating in a drug trial. Ian encourages those with MS to keep up to date with the latest MS research, consider participating in MS drug trials and MS research projects, and to keep as active as possible.
Professor Gavin Giovannoni is an academic neurologist based in the Blizard Institute, Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, UK. He was awarded a PhD in immunology from the University of London in 1998. He was appointed as a clinical senior lecturer at the Royal Free and University College Medical School in 1998 and moved back to Queen Square in 1999. He was made a Reader in Neuroimmunology in 2004. His current research is focused on the Epstein–Barr virus as a possible cause of MS, MS-related neurodegeneration, biomarker discovery and validation, and MS clinical outcomes. Gavin is also an avid reader, blogger, runner, gardener, husband, father, dog-owner, cook, and wine and food lover.
Dr Aaron Boster is a board-certified neurologist specializing in multiple sclerosis and related CNS inflammatory disorders. He decided to become an MS doctor aged 12, as he watched his uncle Mark suffer from the disease in an era before treatment was available. Dr Boster grew up in Columbus, Ohio, USA and attended Oberlin College as an undergraduate. He earned his degree in medicine (MD) at the University of Cincinnati College of medicine and completed an internship in Internal Medicine and residency in Neurology at the University of Michigan. He then completed a two-year fellowship in Clinical Neuroimmunology at Wayne State University. Since then, Dr Boster has been intimately involved in the care of people impacted by MS. He has been a principal investigator in numerous clinical trials, trained multiple MS doctors and nurse practitioners and published extensively in medical journals. He lectures to both patients and providers worldwide with a mission to educate, energize and empower people impacted by MS. He lives in Columbus, Ohio with his wife, Krissy, son Maxwell, and daughter Betty Mae.
Karina Barrera lives in Montevideo, Uruguay. She has been living with MS for 9 years, with a diagnosis of relapsing-remitting MS. She is a member of the MS Society of Uruguay, the Global Council of Young People with MS and Influencers LatAm. Karina has also obtained a diploma in Health Literacy in 2020. Karina has helped many young people living with MS to understand MS and get close to the broader MS community. She considers it an honour and a responsibility to be part of the organizing committee of this PRISMS conference, both in an individual capacity and as a representative of the Latino community of people living with MS. She believes it is very important that the experience of living with MS in Latin America is shared with the rest of the world and gains more visibility.
Dr Raed Alroughani is a consultant neurologist and the Director of the MS Clinic at the Amiri and Ibn Sina hospitals in Kuwait. He received his degree in medicine (MD) from Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic. He completed his neurology residency, obtained neurology certification from the Royal College of Physicians & Surgeons (Canada), and completed a fellowship in MS while at the University of British Columbia in Canada. Dr Alroughani’s fields of interest are primarily focused on the epidemiology and therapeutics of MS. He established the first national MS registry and multi-disciplinary MS clinic in Kuwait. He is actively involved in research and he has authored and co-authored more than 100 publications. He is a founding member and the secretary general of the Middle East North Africa Committee for Treatment and Research in MS (MENACTRIMS), the vice chair of the Scientific Leadership Group of the MSBase Foundation, and an executive board member of the ParadigMS Foundation.
