The ME/CFS Community is powerful, smart, and resourceful. One way that Solve M.E. empowers and collaborates with the ME/CFS Community is through our Community Advisory Council (CAC).
The Solve M.E. Community Advisory Council (CAC) is a volunteer working group providing guidance and recommendations on numerous Solve M.E. programs. Members of the CAC work with Solve M.E. staff on issues related to ME/CFS advocacy, education, and engagement, in addition to reviewing applications for funding through the EmPOWER M.E. micro grant program. The CAC serves as an inclusive partner platform to facilitate the input, dialogue, and collaborations with representatives of the ME/CFS community.
**Inaugural 2020-2022 Nominations now closed**
CAC membership is open to anyone by nomination (including self-nomination) and is especially encouraged for people with ME/CFS, caregivers and family, advocates, academic partners, and public health professionals.
(in alphabetical order)
Lisa Alioto, JD
Lisa is the Vice President of the Minnesota ME/CFS Alliance and runs Realistic Optimism, a website and Facebook page dedicated to helping people with chronic illnesses continue to find realistic optimism in their lives.
Valentina B. Cohen, JD
Valentina is originally from the EU and her goals are to raise awareness and secure clinical care for the local community of People with ME living in Los Angeles as well as the world-wide ME/CFS community.
Marc Courchesne
Marc is a marketing, communications and customer engagement professional and long-time Solve M.E. volunteer. His story is featured in the Humans of ME/CFS campaign. He plans to use his background and strategic planning to help find answers and treatments for this “Forgotten Plague.”
Robert Jacobs, MD, MBA
Robert is a retired rheumatologist with a background in laboratory and clinical research. He is also an active patient advocate who works to raise awareness and fight the stigma about ME/CFS in South Carolina.
Andrew Kantor, JD, MBA
Andrew is a Disability Insurance Attorney whose practice focuses exclusively on helping individuals whose health, life, or long-term disability insurance benefits have been wrongfully denied. He was featured in the 2019 Science and Discovery Webinar Series.
Soh-Yeon Lee
Soh-Yeon is a Senior Program Analyst with the State Bar of California and a Volunteer Regional Resource Researcher with Solve M.E. Her focuses are education and awareness for patients and caregivers, advocacy efforts, and patient-scientist partnerships.
Susan Levine, MD
Susan is infectious disease specialist and founder of the Medical Office of Susan M. Levine, MD. Over the last two decades, she has collaborated with other clinicians and researchers, co-authored a ‘Manual for Physicians’, a primer for internists about the care of CFS patients, and served as a reviewer for the IOM report on ME/CFS. She formerly served on the Federal Advisory Committee for CFS.
Liliana Lim
Liliana has a background in research and communications. Using her knowledge of content integration, she seeks to interweave health content in narrative frameworks to make ME/CFS education more palatable and understandable for a wider audience.
Carol Mahoney
Carol is a nonprofit professional, former member of the Solve M.E. Board of Directors, and current member of the Emeritus Board. Her focuses are in collaboration and helping patients in financial need.
Kate Sanchez, MFA
Kate is an English professor and writer. She has expertise in program design and is the creator of Vitamin K Mindful, a mindfulness YouTube channel. She is interested in using her knowledge of mindfulness, advocacy work, and managing ME/CFS to help those suffering with ME/CFS.
Sanna Stella
Sanna is a long time Solve M.E. volunteer and is currently earning her Master’s in Clinical Mental Health Counseling. Her interests are in congressional advocacy, patient support and education, research participation and participant experience, and helping patients and their families cope.
Jenna Taylor, MS, NCC, LCPC
Jenna is a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor, educator, writer, and advocate for women and families in crisis. She has participated in Solve M.E.’s Advocacy Days in Washington DC for several years and her goal is to help our community of sick sufferers become a community of healthy thrivers.
Danielle Warner
Danielle is educator and advocate based in Canada. She has experience in communicating with clinicians and researchers to raise awareness about M.E. medical and scientific communities and her goal is to turn a complex and overwhelming disease into something that people can understand, and a crisis that they won’t be able to ignore.
Shakia Guest, MAPH
Shakia is program developer and manager who is interested in projects geared towards bringing awareness to ME/CFS utilizing print, social, and visual media. She is also a content creator and writer and manages the Instagram account ChronicallyIllWarrior.
Emily Taylor is the Vice President of Advocacy and Engagement and Community Advisory Council Staff Adviser for Solve ME/CFS Initiative.
Emily brings to the organization over fifteen years of policy, organization, and advocacy experience in both the non-profit and government sectors. With five years’ experience on Capitol Hill, Emily contributes a keen understanding of both state and federal policy processes while cultivating strong grassroots organization and patient representation.
Prior to joining the Solve M.E., Emily served as the director of policy and advocacy for an award-winning autism organization. There she spearheaded major overhauls in disability, early intervention, and education policies. She is also a veteran of several successful electoral campaigns, where she trained others in effective social media and online organization. She received a B.A. with honors in politics and international relations from Scripps College in Claremont and earned her M.A. in American politics from Claremont Graduate University. Emily draws inspiration from her mother who has battled ME/CFS as well as chronic autoimmune and thyroid conditions since 1999.
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