Patient Voices: When Champions Lead the Way

For those living with rheumatic diseases, finding your voice can be as powerful as finding the right treatment. In this candid roundtable conversation, six extraordinary patient advocates—Chelsea, Stasha, Nya, Tanya, Jen, and Cheryl—pull back the curtain on their journeys from diagnosis to becoming Rheum Champions with the Rheumatology Research Foundation.

Each champion brings a unique perspective to the table, having navigated conditions ranging from rheumatoid arthritis and lupus to Hashimoto's thyroiditis and PCOS. Their paths to advocacy began in different ways—through therapist recommendations during pandemic isolation, chance videos that caught attention, or the realization that their professional knowledge could help others struggling with the same conditions. What unites them is the courage to transform personal struggles into public purpose.

The conversation takes us behind the scenes of the 2025 Rheumatology Research Foundation Investigators Meeting, revealing a surprisingly intimate environment where patients, researchers, and clinicians connect as equals. As Nya shares, "It helps us get to know rheumatologists as people more than just physicians." These connections humanize research and remind scientists of the lives their work ultimately touches. Jen describes the conference as "an antidote to hopelessness," where passionate researchers remain engaged and collaborative even after long days.

Beyond the formal advocacy work, these champions highlight how the community becomes a powerful healing force. Whether interviewing researchers together, sharing favorite books for an impromptu book club, or simply understanding each other's dietary restrictions without explanation, these connections remind them they're "human beings alongside everything," as Cheryl beautifully puts it.

Ready to transform your own experience into advocacy? The champions explain that becoming a Rheum Champion requires just a simple five-minute application. As Jen emphasizes, "It's not about having all the answers—it's about wanting to make a difference."

Apply to be a #RheumChampion today!

#RHEUMCHAMPION - The Rheumatology Lab

Jen Weaver:

https://www.instagram.com/gracefully_jen?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&igsh=ZDNlZDc0MzIxNw==

Cherly Crow:

https://www.instagram.com/arthritis_life_cheryl?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&igsh=ZDNlZDc0MzIxNw==

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