VIRTUAL 
SJOGREN'S
SUMMIT

Kara Wada, MD

HOST, REDEFINING SUCCESS WITH SJOGREN'S & SINUS CARE

Dr. Kara Wada is an Assistant Professor of Allergy/Immunology with experiences of over 10 years teaching medical trainees about misbehaving immune systems. Currently, she serves as Associate Fellowship Program Director at the Ohio State University, Founder/CEO of The Crunchy Allergist and host of the Success with Sjogren’s Podcast. Her advocacy work focuses on improving the physician-patient relationship, improving awareness around invisible illnesses, and improving consumer protections in the personal care and cosmetics industry.

She coaches clients using both life and health coaching techniques to break out of maladaptive and self-sabatoging habits to ditch the fatigue and fog and find clarity and confidence in her 30 days to Redefining Success Program.

Micah Yu MD, MHA

SJOGREN'S AND SYSTEMIC MANIFESTATIONS

Dr. Yu is a triple board certified rheumatologist who combines the fields of integrative and functional medicine to help his patients. He is in private practice in Southern California and sees patients throughout the USA and internationally through telemedicine. He has arthritis himself and manages his disease through a holistic approach.

Cristina Montoya

CANNABIS 101 AND SJOGREN'S

Cristina Montoya is a Registered Dietitian and Holistic Cannabis Practitioner who has lived with Sjögren's since childhood. Rheumatoid Arthritis and Fibromyalgia also joined the chronic illness club 20 years ago. Cristina helps women with rheumatic autoimmune diseases to elevate their anti-inflammatory lifestyle with plant-based nutrition, gut health principles and cannabis. Cristina enjoys spending time with her 3-year-old boy and husband, tweaking anti-inflammatory recipes, and embracing cannabinoid sciences.

Jillian Rigert, DMD, MD

ORAL HEALTH

Jillian Rigert, DMD, MD has formal training in dentistry, medicine, and Oral Medicine. She is currently a postdoctoral research fellow in Radiation Oncology and a Certified Professional Leadership Coach and Wayfinder Life Coach Trainee. Dr. Rigert values holistic care with priority in disease prevention and optimization of quality of life through integration of lifestyle and modern medicine.

Divya Dhawan

ROLE OF STRESS, EMOTIONAL WELLNESS and TOXINS IN SJOGREN'S SYNDROME

Divya Dhawan is a Certified health coach, with a background in life science and education. She is extremely passionate about finding healing for Sjogren’s syndrome and getting good health in general, after Sjogrens diagnosis brought her life to a standstill. She was told, like all other people with Autoimmune disorders that, there’s no cure for Sjogrens and that only management is possible. Her positive outlook and resilient nature came in handy at this point and helped her to get into remission thereafter, and has been there still after almost 9 years. She has been working as a health coach for over 2 years, helping women and men with Sjogren’s syndrome, tap into their healing potential through an empowered mindset, using food as medicine, removing toxic products (and emotions) from their life, learning to manage stress better and much more in her “SHINE WITH SJOGREN’S FORMULA” coaching program.

Catina Morrison

FINDING YOUR VOICE WITH SJOGREN'S - STOP HIDING AND START THRIVING!

Catina Morrison is a registered nurse who transitioned to Corporate Quality of Care Data Management, Chronic Illness Coach and Founder and CEO of Nurse Loves Essentials LLC. After decades of symptoms, such as chronic pain and fatigue, she was finally diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, fibromyalgia and endometriosis in her 30's. Her experiences with the healthcare system fueled her passion for assisting women with autoimmune diseases to reach their best quality of life through mindset, self-advocacy and consistently implementing natural and holistic methods, such as aromatherapy and essential oils. She now takes her more than 22 years of experience in healthcare, 16 years as a registered nurse and 30 years of learning to thrive with multiple chronic illnesses to assist women to uncover their purpose by doing what they were meant to do, walk in their power by advocating for themselves, and accelerate their growth in life, health, business and career. She has dedicated her life to walking in her purpose and is helping others to do the same through one on one and group coaching, course creation, by raising awareness through her social media platform, and also participating in events like the Sjogren’s Summit. It is her aim to ensure that women living with chronic illness finally learn to stop hiding, and start thriving in all aspects of life despite autoimmune disease.

Marcie Evans

YOGA THERAPY, MIND/BODY FITNESS THERAPY & SJOGREN'S SYNDROME

With four autoimmune diseases accumulated over the last twenty-five years, Marcie Evans has experienced the gamut of symptoms that can accumulate over time, and each time has put her symptoms into remission using a combination of techniques she’s studied from Eastern and Western therapies. She has searched for the right combinations of healing techniques and practices and shares them with others all over the world. Along with 25 years of experience, Marcie has her M.A. from the University of Iowa in Integrated Physiology, she is a Certified Exercise Physiologist with ACSM, and a Registered Yoga Therapist with IAYT.

Ingrid He

SJOGREN'S SYMPTOM TRACKING

My experience with Sjogren's led me to develop a symptom tracking app. It took 5 years for me to obtain a diagnosis and many aspects of managing this condition has been very frustrating for me. I'm still working on the app, but my vision is for it to become a simplified solutions for people to track symptoms. The app would then not only generate helpful summaries for doctor's appointments, when we need to report our progress, but also predict how often certain triggers were associated with flares of symptoms.

Sarah Schafer MD, MPHe

SJOGREN'S ADVOCATE

Sarah Schafer MD, MPH worked as a public health physician in the San Franciso Bay Area for 18 years. Twenty years ago, her career ended abruptly when she experienced a sudden worsening of Sjogren’s symptoms. Like many patients, she had difficulty getting diagnosed and finding comprehensive care. This experience inspired her to help other patients navigate a medical system that downplays this serious, systemic disease. Her website, Sjogren’s Advocate provides tools and strategies that patients can use to advocate for the care they need.

Jenifer Tharani

NON RESTRICTIVE NUTRITION

Jenifer Tharani is a registered dietitian and daughter of a chronic illness warrior. Jenifer believes that eating healthy does not have to be boring, time-consuming, or expensive. She is extremely passionate about helping women with chronic illness adopt an anti-inflammatory, gut-healing eating pattern without unwarranted food eliminations.

She doesn’t believe in diets, instead of making small sustainable lifestyle changes to help you find a balance in your everyday life, including trying to keep your favorite foods in the mix!

Jenifer’s mantra is “Give a Man a Fish, and You Feed Him for a Day. Teach a Man to Fish, and You Feed Him for a Lifetime”. Her nutrition coaching programs empower you with nutrition education, provide you with accountability to take action and experience transformations, and an inclusive community of women going through the same struggles so you don't feel alone.

More Speakers & Topics

TO BE ANNOUNCED