Our board of directors is comprised of advocates for health literacy and patient-centered care, and supports our team in improving health by making health information clear. The talent and dedication represented on our board continues to grow, and we’re thrilled to welcome Wenora Johnson and Jeanne M. Regnante as our 2 newest board members:
As a patient and research advocate, Wenora Johnson brings her passion for and focus on health equity to raise awareness about cancer among support groups, organizations, patients, caregivers, and the public. A 3-time cancer survivor herself, Johnson serves on a wide array of advisory boards and committees, including federal, foundation, and advocacy organizations. She is also a distinguished and sought-after speaker. She has addressed or served on panels at national and international conferences in cancer research, survivorship, tech, health psychology, clinical oncology, and more.
Read Johnson’s own thoughts on the role of a patient advocate at the Fight Colorectal Cancer blog and hear about her experience with colorectal cancer on the Health Design Podcast.
As an innovator, changemaker, and collaborator, Jeanne M. Regnante has dedicated her career to answering questions that make a meaningful difference to all people living with cancer. Regnante is Founder and President of Patient 3i (patient insights inspire innovation), and her work history for more than 30 years has been in both the public and private sector. She has consistently focused on driving equitable care for medically underserved populations across diseases with a notable network of healthcare stakeholders and researchers. Jeanne primarily works with Tigerlily Foundation and Premier Allied Sciences driving health equity focused strategic programs that impact all people with sustainability.
Find Regnante on twitter and read her perspective on building health equity at The Women Leaders.
Congratulations Dr. Will Ross
In other board news, congratulations to Vice President Will Ross, MD, MPH, who this month was awarded 2022 Person of the Year by the St. Louis American, St. Louis’ award-winning Black newspaper. Dr. Ross is an Endowed Professor of Medicine and serves as Associate Dean for Diversity at the Washington University School of Medicine, and was instrumental in the founding of the nonprofit that evolved into Health Literacy Media.
Read more about Dr. Ross’ award.
Dr. Steve Pu memorial scholarship fund
The Dr. Steve Pu Memorial Scholarship fund has been established in memory of HLM’s founding board president Dr. Steve Pu, DO who passed away in 2019. These scholarships will provide support for undergraduate and graduate student internships focused on health literacy and equity at HLM. Dr. Pu was passionate about the opportunity for health literacy to help patients make informed decisions, and pioneered the idea of the “sacred moment” between a clinician and a patient, marked by a true, personal, human connection amidst the forms and interrogation involved in accessing healthcare.
Consider donating to the fund at Donorbox.com.
Clearmark Award for HLM
This summer the Center for Plain Language awarded HLM a 2022 Clearmark Award for our work with the LUNGevity Foundation to produce health literate patient education resources about lung cancer screening, diagnosis, and treatment. We are honored to have our work recognized and humbled to play a part in educating patients and caregivers in an area that is changing rapidly.
Check out some of the resources at LUNGevity.org
Looking ahead
2022 was a great year at HLM, marked by record growth in our staff and rewarding work with new partners in clinical science communication, video production, community-based health promotion, gathering insight through interviews, focus groups, and audience testing, and much more.
Check out our site or our social media if it’s been a while since you’ve connected - you just might be surprised to see what we’ve been up to!
Stay tuned too, because 2023 holds some big changes for HLM that we’re very excited about.
As always, thank you for your support- together we can continue to realize the promise of health literacy to make a positive impact in health!