Speaker Bios
Dr. Svetlana Blitshteyn
Dr. Svetlana Blitshteyn is the Director and Founder of Dysautonomia Clinic, where she provides consultations for patients with neurologic and autonomic disorders. She is the Clinical Associate Professor of Neurology at the University at Buffalo Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. Dr. Blitshteyn completed her neurology training at Mayo Clinic Graduate School of Medicine. She has been appointed as the Clinical Lead for the Autonomic Section Writing Group for the Multi-Disciplinary PASC/Long Covid Collaborative and is a member of the American Academy of Neurology and American Autonomic Society. She is also on the medical advisory board for Dysautonomia International, Dysautonomia Information Network, Standing Up to POTS and the Ehlers-Danlos Society. Her research focuses on POTS, autoimmunity and immunotherapy. She received Dysautonomia International Physician of the Year Award in 2022 and the Patient’s Choice Award from Dysautonomia Support Network in 2019.
Link to full bio: http://www.dysautonomiaclinic.com/dr-blitshteyn/
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Dr. Linda Bluestein
Board-certified anesthesiologist, integrative pain medicine physician and former ballet dancer, Linda Bluestein, M.D., has dedicated her life to treating those afflicted with hypermobility disorders. She founded and co-hosts the podcast, “Bendy Bodies with the Hypermobility MD”, and is a former co-host of the podcast “Hypermobility Happy Hour”. Dr. Bluestein is widely published, considered an expert on hypermobility disorders, and has lectured internationally. Dr. Bluestein contributed two chapters for the book, Disjointed – Navigating the Diagnosis and Management of Hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome and Hypermobility Spectrum Disorders.
Dr. Bluestein is a member of the Allergy and Immunology Working Group for the International Consortium on EDS and HSD, the Medical Advisory Board for Standing up to POTS, the Board of Directors for the Bridge Dance Project, the Advisory Board for Doctors for Dancers, the Resources Committee for the Dance Healthy Alliance of Canada and she also serves as the Pain Management Committee Chair for the non-profit, EDS Research Foundation.
As a leading specialist in connective tissue disorders, Dr. Bluestein helped create the first online EDS CME (Continuing Medical Education) program with the non-profit organization, Chronic Pain Partners, for whom she also serves as a volunteer medical consultant. As an assistant professor at the Medical College of Wisconsin, Central Wisconsin, Dr. Bluestein directed the RISHI Healer’s Art Program. More information can be found on her website, www.hypermobilitymd.com.
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Marli Brown
Marli Brown is a social worker who has worked as a mental health and social advocate for many years, supporting individuals living with chronic pain and in The ILC Community. Marli started a local humane society, coordinated the development of a local natural playground and donated her time and skill set to develop prevention programs in her community of Dauphin, Manitoba.
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Dr. Kim Daniel
Kim Daniel received her PhD from McGill University in an APA/CPA accredited Counselling Psychology program where she developed her skills in research and clinical work. She completed her residency at Surrey Place Centre in Toronto, working with individuals with differing intellectual developmental disabilities and autism spectrum disorder (ASD). As well, she completed a postdoctoral clinical fellowship at Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children, working in the Pediatric Clinical/Health Psychology and Behavioural Medicine Division with both in-patients and out-patients. Currently, at CBT Associates, Kim is a registered therapist and provides Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) for children, adolescents, adults, and families who are dealing with differing issues such as: grief and loss, health issues, anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, stress, bullying, relationship issues and other mental health difficulties. Kim continues to hold a position at Surrey Place (SP), as the Director of Community Partnership and Innovation. Kim’s area of interest/research and work is to understand and explore best practices in equity, diversity, inclusion and accessibility (EDIA) and is the staff lead for EDIA working group at SP Kim enjoys her field of practice whereby she can dedicate her efforts to her clients, by promoting the maintenance of mental health and the treatment of mental illness. She continues to aspire in making a significant contribution in the fields of Counselling, Psychology and Education.
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Dr. Clair Francomano
Dr. Clair Francomano has been involved in the care of individuals with the Ehlers-Danlos Syndromes throughout her career. During her years at the National Institutes of Health, she spear-headed a longitudinal study on the natural history of EDS that ran for over 20 years. She has served on the Steering Committee for the International Consortium on the Ehlers-Danlos Syndromes and Related Conditions and as chair of the Committee on Classical Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome for the Consortium since 2016.
Dr. Francomano joined Indiana University in August 2019 as professor of medical and molecular genetics at the IU School of Medicine and director of the Residency Training Program in Genetics at IU. Prior to joining IU, she was the director of the Ehlers-Danlos National Foundation Center for Clinical Care and Research at the Harvey Institute of Human Genetics, Greater Baltimore Medical Center, which she joined in 2005 as director of adult genetics
Dr. Francomano’s research interests over the years have centered on hereditary disorders of connective tissue and skeletal dysplasias. In 1994, she became chief of the Medical Genetics Branch at the National Human Genome Research Institute, National Institutes of Health, where she served as clinical director from 1996 to 2001. From 2001 to 2005 she was Chief of the Human Genetics and Integrative Medicine Section in the Laboratory of Genetics, National Institute on Aging. She has published over 130 peer-reviewed articles and lectures widely around the world about the Ehlers-Danlos Syndromes and related disorders. She has a keen interest in the management of the multiple co-morbidities seen in this condition.
Dr. Francomano attended Yale College as an undergraduate and received her M.D. from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, where she trained in internal medicine and medical genetics. She joined the full-time Hopkins faculty in 1984.
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Dr. Satish Raj
Satish R Raj MD MSCI is a Heart Rhythm Cardiologist. He spent 12 years working at the Vanderbilt Autonomic Dysfunction Center in Nashville, TN. He has moved back to Canada, and he has founded the Calgary Autonomic Investigation & Management Clinic. He is currently Professor of Cardiac Science at the Libin Cardiovascular Institute and the University of Calgary’s Cumming School of Medicine. His primary research interests relate to understanding and better treating postural tachycardia syndrome (POTS) and vasovagal syncope and orthostatic hypotension – both in patients with and without EDS. Dr. Raj is a former President of the American Autonomic Society. Dr. Raj also serves as a Medical Advisor to many POTS patient groups, and he is a part of the EDS Co-Morbidity Coalition Working Group. ________________________________________________________________________
Dr. Brayden Yellman
Brayden Yellman, MD is a board-certified physician in internal medicine and rheumatology. He completed a B.S. in biology at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, and a Doctor of Medicine at University of Texas, Houston. He completed a residency at Exempla Saint Joseph in Denver, Colorado, and a fellowship in rheumatology at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. Joining Bateman Horne in 2019, Yellman has dedicated his work to provider education and meticulously evaluating and treating patients with ME/CFS, fibromyalgia, Long COVID, autonomic dysfunctions, mast cell activation, and other post-viral conditions.
Link to full bio: Brayden Yellman, MD
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