Durhane Wong-Rieger, PHD is Chair of Rare Disease International (the global alliance of rare disease patient organizations), Past-Chair of the International Alliance of Patient Organizations, member of the Editorial Board of The Patient- Patient Centred Outcomes Research and member of Health Technology Assessment International Patient /Citizen Involvement Interest Group. In Canada, she is President & CEO of the Canadian Organization for Rare Disorders (the umbrella organization of patients and patient groups), Chair of the Consumer Advocare Network (a national network for patient engagement in healthcare policy and advocacy), President & CEO of the Institute for Optimizing Health Outcomes (providing training and direct service on health coaching and patient self-management) and Chair of FH Canada Patient Network. She is a certified Health Coach and licensed T-Trainer with the Stanford-based Living A Healthy Life with Chronic Conditions.
Dr. Wong-Rieger has served on numerous health policy advisory committees and panels and is a member of the Working Group for Ontario’s Rare Disease Strategy and member of the Patient Liaison Forum for the Canadian Drugs and Technologies in Health.
Durhane has a PhD in psychology from McGill University and was professor at the University of Windsor, Canada. She is a trainer and frequent lecturer and author of three books and many articles.