The Patient Scientist

Below are resources for making medicine and scientific research more transparent. Whether you are a patient or a researcher, I hope these are actionable and useful! If you have more resources to suggest, please reach out via my contact form.

Getting Started

👉

From Needle Phobia to Collecting my own Blood

Here’s my experience partaking in Phase 2 of 3 in the @biometric.study in Los Angeles !

This study captured my curiosities on Eastern medicine, art, and wearables (though it wasn’t a formal IRB-approved research study.) While I appreciated the initiative, a few areas could’ve used improvement:

• clearer explanation of study design, hypothesis, and how data will be used
• stronger efforts to reduce participant bias (pre-session presentations + open participant discussion likely influenced outcomes)
• more rigorous metadata collection (e.g. tracking who wore blindfolds, who sat vs laid down)
• clearer communication around participant compensation and/or what data return would look like

Showing data to participants in real time was conceptually cool, but ultimately compromised the experiment — the only true blinding was the blindfold itself 😅

Some of the marketing and graphics also sparked skepticism for me. That said, I don’t want rigidity to stifle curiosity. There’s something valuable in exploratory spaces like this, even when imperfect. These folks are starting important convos on human wellbeing and connection. 💕 ✨

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Physician: @dr.mitch.abrams
Artist: @chaos.cura
Violinist: @nathalieboninmusic
Breathwork facilitator: @breathewithrobert
Event organizer: @marklaisure
First night venue: @thekinn.co
Study venue: @veritas.yoga

*Disclaimer: I joke that this was “woo woo.” I don’t mean any disrespect by that. I genuinely appreciate the vision and hope to see it evolve thoughtfully.

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#biometric #hrv #eastwestmedicine

I think asking for a culture would be a great way to shift UTI treatment toward precision medicine until we can get more advanced diagnostics in the clinic. I’m not sure how much extra burden this would add to our healthcare system, but my thinking is it can save wasted resources down the line. I didn’t double check the medical guidelines on this topic. This is just my recollection of what I learned from my internship years back and my ideas for how we can better go about antibiotic prescribing. Obviously, consult your doctor! I’m not a physician and I’m not giving medical advice. Just offering ideas to explore with your doctor!

#uti #antimicrobialresistance

Since this would prob lead to a probiotic for lowering cholesterol, rather than a pharmaceutical drug, it prob won’t get big pharma $$ for funding. 💵 💰 So it’s up to us, the patient scientists, to back this up!! 💪

#cholesterol #statin

🩸😮‍💨Tips for how to overcome fainting in blood draws are up on the blog!

#blooddraw #vasovagalsyncope #microsampling

🎃 🍁 Pumpkin spice and cinnamon season is upon us. With that theme, I bring you this post 😝 Search “vaginal microbiome” in my website to find the corresponding article with:
📖 explainers on the vaginal microbiome
🫵how testing may help you
📝what my test results were and how they can help you interpret yours

This post wasn’t sponsored. I’m just sharing cool science I’ve had the privilege of getting to work on and participate in.

#womenshealth #vaginalhealth #vaginalmicrobiome #vaginalmicrobiometest

What makes you trust a scientific recommendation?
A perfect randomized control trial (RCT) could earn your trust.
Or maybe scientific consensus across lots of studies would make you feel better.
For me, it’s about the scientists as people. I want to know who they are, their motivations, their biases. Story and vibes is not a very scientific metric, but it’s how I feel as a patient and a person.
Comment with things that earn your trust from scientists and medical practitioners, whether it’s a real example or something you wish was done…

#maha

So you found a research study…. Are you gonna join? Do you trust it? Is it worth it?

Follow this account for content that helps you feel confident about those decisions. Know your rights in research— when to join a study and when to say no!

If you’re considering a study and unsure whether to join, send it over to me and we can figure it out together:)

✋If you’re sharing a study that I haven’t yet posted, DM me first before tagging me in a post.

Whether it’s positive sharing for others to join or cautionary to warn others, let me know!

I likely won’t repost until we can chat first 🙃

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Poll: What studies are you looking to join?

✋ Stop throwing away your tampons! Instead, use them for research!

More info on the science and links to similar studies are on my website.

#menstruationmatters #womenshealth #pcos #tampons

Did you know there is a urinary microbiome?

You can learn about yours by joining research!

I’m trying it out. If you want to join me, search “UTI” on my website (linked in bio).*

*You don’t need to have UTIs to join the study. They need healthy controls, too!

*This isn’t a sponsored post. I’m just sharing cool research I do as a #patientscientist 🤓

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#UTI #microbiome #femalehealth #clinicalresearch #microsampling #urine

📝Research Consent Forms: Key Tips and Red Flags 🚩

Consent forms can be overwhelming! Learn crucial tips and what to watch out for before signing. Highlights include:
-data return rights
-identifying incidental findings, understanding study sponsorship
-data privacy, and
-recognizing potential conflicts of interest.

💪 Get empowered to ask the right questions and demand transparency with expert advice on navigating consent forms effectively.

#patientsafety #bioethics #patientscientist #patientadvocate #clinicaltrials #consentforms #citizenscience

Welcome to The Patient Scientist channel!

I studied Cell Biology at UC Berkeley 🐻 , did research in labs 🧪 , & work in biotech 🧬. Not enough patients have the knowledge I’ve come across, so I’m here to share it with you:)

I’ll share
🧬 research study opportunities you can join me in
🧬 knowledge to help you know your rights in research
🧬 blog posts alongside videos (link in bio!)

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#clinicaltrials #studyparticipant #patientscientist

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Videos

@thepatientscientist

My six point rating system for research studies:

Adapted from my article.

I'll share a scorecard that makes it easy to score a study & decide whether to join.

Coming Soon

👈

Search for Resources

Read the latest from the blog

ImYoo Launches Patient-enabled Lupus Study to Track Steroid Tapering Outside the Clinic

From Needle Phobia to Collecting my own Blood

Tips to overcome fainting from venous blood draws and microsampling as an alternative to enable regular blood testing

Vaginal Microbiome Sequencing

"23andMe for your cooch" 🫢 An explanation of the vaginal microbiome and how to interpret test results In 2019, I was both working on and...

Full Blog

Join Vetted Studies

The Patient Scientist

Getting Started

From Needle Phobia to Collecting my own Blood

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Videos

My six point rating system for research studies: Adapted from my article. I'll share a scorecard that makes it easy to score a study & decide whether to join.

Coming Soon

Search for Resources

Read the latest from the blog

ImYoo Launches Patient-enabled Lupus Study to Track Steroid Tapering Outside the Clinic

From Needle Phobia to Collecting my own Blood

Vaginal Microbiome Sequencing

My six point rating system for research studies:

Adapted from my article.

I'll share a scorecard that makes it easy to score a study & decide whether to join.