Community Health Leaders
In order to stay up to date on latest treatments, drug discovery, clinical studies and how to manage psoriasis every day, PlaquePsoriasis.com brings you frequent articles, points of view and advice from health leaders and experts.
Current health leaders
Annelyse Andal
I am Annelyse, 24 years old, a psychology graduate, and a law student from the Philippines. In 2020, specifically just half a semester away from graduation, I was diagnosed with Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis. Read more.
Lisa Marie Basile
Lisa Marie Basile was officially diagnosed with Ankylosing Spondyltiis in 2017 after living with nearly a decade's worth of symptoms. She has attended the NASS meetups in NYC, and is an advocate for many people with AS through her writing and social media presence @lisamariebasile. Read more.
Gemma Boak
Gemma was initially diagnosed as a young child and in 2012 a guttate psoriasis diagnosis. This inspired her to become interested in advocacy. Researching strategies to cope with the severe itching of a post-Strep flare (and prednisone induced insomnia) opened her up to a plethora of online communities. She came across approaches to managing the symptoms of psoriasis she had never come across before. Her experiences were mostly positive, but some encounters with dangerous advice inspired her to speak out. Read more.
Alisha B
Alisha has dealt with psoriasis since she was 7 years old when a bad case of chicken pox triggered the isease to spread on over 90% of her body. For years she hid in shame afraid of what people would think of such a visible disease. As a result, she was inspired to create her blog, Being Me in My Own Skin. Read more.
Howard Chang
Howard Chang has had severe psoriasis for most of his life. After about two years of trying treatment after treatment, he found one that worked to calm the inflammation storm to a more manageable level. His experience inspired him to create a blog and become an advocate for patient empowerment. Read more.
Kimmy Delahunty
Kimmy Delahunty is a chronically ill creative located in Santa Fe, NM. She wears many different hats as a content creator and social media manager, digital artist and educator. Read more.
Catherine Dolan
Catherine Dolan is a moderator for PlaquePsoriasis.com and Psoriatic-Arthritis.com. While she has had psoriasis for as long as she can remember; the severity and type of which has varied throughout the years. As her psoriasis has always been with her in some shape or form, she has come to feel that it is part of her. Read more.
Jessica Gama
Jessica is a writer, artist, wife, academic, dog-mom, and outdoor enthusiast who is learning more each and every day about life with chronic illnesses. Read more.
Clair Gardiner
Clair Gardiner is a moderator and contributor for PlaquePsoriasis.com She has suffered with plaque psoriasis, affecting her face, scalp, legs, nails, arms, hands, and one or two sensitive places to various degrees over the last 12 years. Adding mild psoriatic arthritis to the mix a few years down the line has made for some exciting adventures and many painful moments. Read more.
Jack Gevertz
Jack Gevertz is a writer and journalist from Manchester in the UK. He first developed plaque psoriasis at the age of 11. His mother first noticed the condition on his scalp and he was taken to the doctor. Read more.
Julie Greenwood
Julie Greenwood has lived with psoriatic disease since 1991. She is passionate about sharing her story, educating others about psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis and about patient advocacy. Read more.
Holland
Holland is a writer, marketing consultant, dog mom and patient advocate. Living with Crohn’s disease and Psoriasis since her teens, her body added Arthritis to the mix in her 30s just to keep things interesting. Read more.
Brittany Ineson
Brittany Ineson is fairly new to the psoriasis community, having been diagnosed only five years ago. Triggered by extreme stress, her psoriasis spread fairly quickly, unsure that what she had was in fact psoriasis and having nowhere to turn, Brittany dove into the world wide web for answers. She stumbled across fellow psoriasis patients and their blogs and this encouraged Brittany to receive actual medical help and begin her own blog, SeeingPspots, in hopes that she could help others the way that she was through others inspirational and honest stories. Read more.
Joni Kazantzis
Joni Kazantzis is a blogger dedicated to creating awareness, educating about the disease, and sharing personal stories of her 18+ year journey with psoriasis. Her mission is to create a sense of community and togetherness as well as share information that can help her readers cope with the day-to-day challenges of living with psoriasis. Read more.
Jess Mangiaracina, PA-C
Jessica Mangiaracina is a Dermatology Physician Associate practicing in Westchester New York. She diagnoses and treats general dermatologic disorders, conducts full body cancer screenings, performs skin biopsies, melanoma imaging, suturing, and wound care. Read more.
Jaime Lyn Moy
Jaime Lyn Moy’s experiences with psoriatic disease began with her son who was diagnosed at age 4 with psoriasis and age 5 with juvenile psoriatic arthritis. Three years later, she received her own diagnosis of both psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis. Jaime’s psoriatic disease was mild for many years but became more severe physically and emotionally during the past five years. Read more.
Ayesha Patrick
New Jersey native Ayesha Patrick has lived with psoriasis nearly her entire life; she remembers as a child her mother telling her that she and her twin sister had growing dandruff to help them try to cope and deal with their scalp psoriasis. Read more.
Aimee Perez
I was officially diagnosed with psoriasis at 17 years old in 2005. I experienced my first sign of plaque psoriasis at 12 years old which I believed to be severe dandruff and dry skin. My grandmother battled with severe psoriasis my whole life and experienced hair loss, skin lesions, and arthritis. After years of struggling with my skin, I was seen by a dermatologist who quickly looked me up and down, glanced at my scalp, and said, “You have psoriasis, there’s no cure. Read more.
Reena Ruparelia
Reena runs an Instagram page (@psoriasis_thoughts) where she share photos, quotes and stories to support others living with the condition. She wants to inspire my community by showing them it’s possible to live a healthy, happy and full life with Psoriasis. Read more.
Sabrina Skiles
Sabrina Skiles is a mom and lifestyle blogger who created SabrinaSkiles.com as a resource for millennial women and those living with chronic conditions. Sabrina has been living with psoriasis for more than two decades and has been a breast cancer survivor since 2020 (diagnosed in 2019). Read more.
Jim Snedden
Jim Snedden is a Patient Advocate, Mentor and Social Ambassador with the National Psoriasis Foundation. He also blogs at aWildAndFlakyGuy.com and can frequently be found on twitter at @NPFjim and Instagram @NPFjim. Read more.
Leah Steinberg
Leah was diagnosed with psoriasis at age 16. She is a recent graduate of TCNJ with a B.S. in Biology and hopes to attend osteopathic medical school. She is passionate about tea, good food, and finding the best Netflix shows (if you haven't seen Dark (2017), you're missing out!). She's very excited to join this community to contribute and continue to learn even more about psoriasis. Read more.
Diane Talbert
Although advocate Diane Talbert had psoriasis for more than 50 years and psoriatic arthritis for 20 years, she was not diagnosed with PsA until 10 years ago. She is a blogger and an advocate for psoriasis and educates others about this disease by participating in annual Capitol Hill visits and speaks at Town Hall Meetings. Read more.
Tikeyah Varner
Tikeyah Varner was diagnosed with plaque psoriasis in 2009 but it hasn’t stopped her from following her dreams. She decided to take control of her psoriasis by advocating and helping others cope with their disease through her writing. Read more.
Vickie Wilkerson
Vickie Wilkerson was 33 years old when psoriasis presented itself. Now 16 years later she still deals with active plaque psoriasis. As she likes to say "psoriasis is just the gift that keeps on giving" meaning six years ago it developed into psoriatic arthritis as well. Read more.
Melissa Withem-Voss
Melissa Withem-Voss started out with PsA suddenly in February 1996. She developed PsO six months later. She has had all forms of Psoriasis including; Plaque, Guttate, Scalp, Palmer Plantar, and Pustular. At one point she was 97% covered in lesions and was Erythrodermic. Read more.
Former health leaders
Judy Donnelly
Judy Donnelly has lived with psoriasis for over 50 years. While Judy Donnelly is new to the blogging world, she is not new to psoriasis or writing. As a former teacher and mother of two sons, Judy has dealt with her share of psoriasis stressors. She looks forward to sharing her experiences with the community. Read more.
Ryan Johnson
Ryan Johnson is a fitness professional based out of New York City. First diagnosed with psoriasis in elementary school, Ryan has dealt first hand with the struggles it brings. Along with training clients in-person and online, Ryan is a writer and co-founder of Sons Of Strength. He and his brother, Eric, are the dynamic duo of the fitness industry. Read more.
Anna Lysakowska
Anna Lysakowska is a travel blogger, journalist, and psoriasis advocate. Since her initial diagnosis at the age of 16, Anna has experienced many forms of treatment. Unfortunately, none of them have been really effective. Read more.
Vicki Nowell
Vicki Nowell is a moderator and contributor for PlaquePsoriasis.com and Psoriatic-Arthritis.com. She was diagnosed with guttate psoriasis in her late teens. Despite having initial success with topical treatments and phototherapy, her psoriasis returned. In her other life, she co-moderates a Facebook psoriasis group while working as a microbiologist in the field of molecular diagnostics. Read more.
Chris Pettit
Chris Pettit has had "skin issues" his whole life but was formally diagnosed with plaque and guttate psoriasis when he was a young teenager. He endured many years of being ostracized, discriminated against, and embarrassed. Then, the year he turned 30, his wife started working for National Psoriasis Foundation. He learned new information about psoriasis he had never heard before. For the first time, he took control of his disease and got proper treatment. Read more.
Regular contributors and moderators at PlaquePsoriasis.com are offered compensation for their contributions to the PlaquePsoriasis.com community. If you are interested in joining our team, please contact us at contact@plaquepsoriasis.com.
