Christine Von Raesfeld (she/her), founder and CEO of People with Empathy (PwE), is a pillar of patient advocacy and allyship in the rare and chronic disease community. Through the lens of her lived experiences in health care, she has become a champion for patient voices, diversity and inclusion in clinical research, and equitable patient–sponsor partnerships.
Christine has brought her unique perspective and honed expertise as a featured speaker for numerous conferences on topics ranging from clinical trial recruitment to data and digital rights, from a true patient perspective. She serves as an e-patient scholar with Stanford Medicine X and a Technical Expert Panelist with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), among other roles. Wherever possible, Christine generates momentum toward progress around her patient advocacy interests, and she has become a thought leader worldwide, stimulating dialog on a range of topics relevant to patients, clinicians, and industry as moderator and host of People with Empathy: The Inside Track on Clubhouse.
As a patient advisor, Christine has assisted several initiatives, including Stanford Medicine’s Humanwide precision medicine program and the NIH All of Us Research Program, and serves as a board member/advisor to multiple organizations and startups. For her many contributions to the field, she has been named one of the top 100 Women of Influence by the Silicon Valley Business Journal, a member of the 2021 Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) Future50, and one of Medika Life’s 50 most influential voices in health care, among other distinctions.
