Tina Aswani-Omprakash, MPH is a multi award-winning women’s health advocate based out of New York City. Tina pivoted from Wall Street to a path of impactful change in healthcare after her own inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) diagnosis and life-saving ostomy surgery. Due to the stigmas and disparities she faced in her own journey with multiple digestive diseases and autoimmune conditions, she started a blog and social media advocacy platform called Own Your Crohn’s, which brought to light cultural determinants related to GI care and access and went viral across patient communities. Her pathbreaking advocacy brought together multiple patient advocates and clinicians, eventually leading to the formation of Strategic Alliance for Intercultural Advocacy in GI (SAIA), a patient-clinician led non-profit organization working to improve cultural sensitivity in GI care across various global communities.
Tina has been named a Top 5 Patient Influencer by Time Magazine. She has been featured at SXSW, in The New York Times, on the cover of American College of Gastroenterology Magazine and in Gastroenterology & Endoscopy News as well as Health Magazine for her trailblazing advocacy work. Tina has also spoken at multiple leading medical, clinical research, and patient conferences worldwide. She has co-authored and led research studies in many prominent medical journals (JAMA, The Lancet, Gastroenterology, Clinical Gastroenterology & Hepatology, Inflammatory Bowel Diseases, etc.). Access Tina’s publications here.
Tina sits on multiple advisory boards for leading industry and healthcare organizations and often advises on clinical trial protocols and strategies for improving inclusion in clinical trials and research. She serves in an advisory capacity for multiple disease areas, including IBD, ostomy, IBS-C, gastroparesis, c. dificile infection, Sjogren’s disease, and Hidradenitis Suppurativa. She also advises a number of companies on health equity considerations.
In 2025, Tina received the CEO of the Year Award in Patient Education & Advocacy from Excellence Awards Global. The American College of Gastroenterology (ACG) awarded Tina the Best Patient Advocacy Award and the Best International Healthcare Education & Advocacy Award in 2022 and 2024, respectively. Tina and SAIA’s patient advocacy arm, IBDesis, were both awarded the Healio Gastroenterology Disruptive Innovator Award in 2019 and 2023, respectively, for moving the needle on GI care for patients. Very Well Health presented Tina with the Health Impact Award and Social Health Network awarded her the Revolutionary Researcher Award in the patient advocacy space in 2023. The Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation recognized Tina in 2021 for her phenomenal leadership and powerful impact on the IBD community with the Above & Beyond Volunteer Award.
Tina is committed to embodying the change she wishes to see in the world, and she does that every day by advocating for patients like herself.