Patient Outreach & Advocacy (POA) Committee

The Patient Outreach & Advocacy Committee is led by Dr. Neilanjan Nandi, Madhura Balasubramaniam, Sharan Khela & Dr. Sumit Bhatia.

POA aims to develop culturally sensitive & curated IBD content that elevates patient disease state education with the goals of

1. Dispelling myths & misinformation
2. Shattering stigma with open forum discussion
3. Garner patient insights to advocate for improved care in coordination with PDC & RC

POA also seeks to improve access to IBD therapies in South Asia by working together with key stakeholders.

IBDesis is an integral part of POA.

The committee hosts regular patient education programs on a variety of topics related to IBD. Each program features a collaborative panel of patients & multidisciplinary healthcare providers. The patient education curriculum is designed by the committee’s patient advocates and clinicians.

Learn more about our patient education livestream curriculum via the button below.

In addition to patient education, POA hosts regular virtual patient meetups to enable South Asian IBD patients and their caregivers to meet one another, discuss their concerns and provide much needed support through one another’s IBD journeys.

Improving access to effective IBD therapies in South Asia is a key goal of SAIA & the POA committee is working towards this. Greater access to IBD therapies opens up more options to treat refractory disease, prevent complications, surgery, morbidity and mortality. Crucially, this project opens up opportunities for SAIA to work closely with important stakeholders to advance diversity in clinical trials in a region with rapidly increasing rates of IBD.