Why I’m an ASIF Trustee

 

   

Photo by by Morten Korgvold

Lillann Wermskog, tells us why she chose to become an ASIF Trustee

“I am the leader of Spafo Norway and I started writing for the member magazine before I joined its board. It is important to me to make a difference to other people, so I am passionate about sharing my experience with AS and spreading accurate information about the disease.”

“I am an academic educated in art history and history of ideas from the University of Oslo. In the job I do as head of Spafo Norway I use a lot of what I learned when I studied the history of ideas, where we looked at all the factors in society that influence our decisions and where freedom of expression and freedom of the press are two of the most important things a society has. This is something I take with me by working against discrimination, for justice and being able to contribute to a better quality of life for people with disabilities.”

“For many years, I have written from rheumatology congresses such as EULAR and ACR and see the importance of sharing this knowledge, particularly when working for a better quality of life for patients. In 2018, we got the results of EMAS (the predecessor of IMAS, world’s largest survey about axSpA), where patients from many different countries shared how they live with this disease. Through the work I did with EMAS and IMAS, I understood how important it was that we stand together to address the big questions about axSpA and try to achieve a better quality of life for patients around the world.”

“Being a board member of ASIF provides an opportunity to do this important work globally and meet an incredible number of great people from different countries. I have discovered that we are not so different from each other and many have the same challenges in the different countries.”

“My driving force is to make a difference for people, but I believe that the more people that stand together the more we achieve.”

“Remember, together we are stronger.”

 

We are recruiting for new Trustees in anticipation of some of our current Trustees stepping down next year. If you are interested in joining the ASIF Board, please contact Jo Davies at office@asif.info.

See our full ASIF Board

 

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