Some Back Story

Since March of 2020 I have been deeply involved with COVID19 research, intervention and implementation prioritization and horizon scanning efforts, evidence development and refinement, recommendation and guidance efforts. Much of this COVID19 work has been non financially compensated though I stay involved believing in the importance of person-public-patient-consumer involvement  for better care, better health and policy knowledge translation for the common good. 

 I have historically specialized in recognizing gaps in local services, then initiated projects that addressed the specific issue gap and bridged the communities, people and or services to one another.  In 2004 I developed the Emergency Muslim Resource Guides in 2005 started the WarmforWinter Project. Both of these projects focus on poverty awareness with simple solution based offerings. In the following years Greener Ramadan, the Islamic Civic Engagement Project, Ramadan Northwest Harvest Drive, also some charities were developed where I had been instrumental in both founding and nurturing along.

In 2012 I was asked by Group Health Research Institute GHRI now Kaiser Washington Health Research Institute KPWHRI to read and provide feedback on a PCORI grant proposal, where if approved I might then be positioned as a Patient Co Investigator on the 'Science Team'. This opportunity changed my life 180 degrees, and turned into one of the steepest and most enjoyable learning curves of my life. Volunteering often leads to something more, I had been referred by GHC Governance to review the PCORI project proposal later named the LINCC project. I had served on GHC Medical Center Council and the Advisory Group Assembly for years, sometimes doing Quality Improvement work, though always seeking ways to improve patient services, improve safety and further patient collaboration opportunities with Board and Staff.

2013, Our first LINCC Science Team meeting, in all honesty myself nor MR had any idea what we were expected to be doing or what a Science Team actually was. Rather then tell the story again please read our co authored PMJ published paper.  All in all I found the participation as a science team member very interesting and rewarding. We are very excited to share that our LINCC Community Resource Specialist intervention learning health system implementation was so successful that it has now been scaled to all 26 Kaiser Washington State Clinics! Here you can read our Evaluation paper.

In 2014 I became a PCORI Ambassador and many engagement opportunities followed, then one involvement led to another. I attended two Evidence Based Guidelines Affecting Practice Policy and Stakeholders -EGAPPS conferences at the New York Academy of Medicine and two Consumer United Evidence-CUE Summits as well as the Cochrane Colloquium in Scotland in 2018.  I presented at a Culture of Change Leadership Consortium meeting at the National Academy of Medicine D.C. and have been an active member of Academy Health and served twice on the planning committees for the Annual Research Meeting.  I have been actively engaged on many research projects, working on multiple priority setting projects, as a thought leader, an expert in the area of addressing disparities and the social determinants of health. I have participated as a consumer member on four measurement Technical Expert Panels as well as a working group member on other measurement panels. Most recently I have been involved with clinical guideline development serving as a public panel member at the American College of Physicians and joined Guidelines International Network to learn more about clinical guidelines and to continue to look for gaps where guidelines should and can be developed with patient / public partnerships.

I am looking forward to working with you on patient partner research involvement and or in quality improvement efforts. If you are seeking a panel member and or if you might need to be connected with another patient partner I will strive to help you meet your goals I do promote equitable compensation for work patient partners are involved with. Thank you for your interest and Please see my CVM for more details

Earlier History

I was fortunate to have been raised in a beautiful small coastal town north of Seattle. My beloved (career military) Colonel Father passed when I was nine from a malignant brain tumor. Most of my formative years he was in a hospital bed at home where he was lovingly cared for. My Mother, a Mayo  R.N., College Educator and Executive Director was a loving compassionate woman whom everyone loved when they met her. I had an idyllic childhood and early adulthood, having access to play or investigate a small forest, walk along the beach on any day and  able to ski the mountains when I wanted. I then attended a few colleges, was a lifeguard one summer, worked on a farm another summer, pursued a career with cognitively challenged adults, moved into photography, then Hotel business all the while moving from the West Coast to the East Coast, many points in between and back to Seattle, my home. I met many people, lived through unbelievable experiences before settling into the work I love, striving to help catalyze a better world one day , one project at a time, with a focus on health and well being.

Recent Blogcast 

March 22 2021 Islamic Thought on Poverty and Structural Violence 

 Blogcast: Being Accountable to One Another ⋆ Religica