How a clinical trial helped this Crohn’s advocate finally reach remission

Like many people living with Crohn's disease, Tina Aswani Omprakash had trouble finding a treatment that would send her symptoms into remission. 

After trying many of the common Crohn's treatments on the market, she still wasn't getting a response. She also had developed fistulas: abnormal connections between organs in the digestive tract, typically between one part of the intestines and another. 

That's when her doctor suggested she join a clinical trial. 

“I needed hope,” she says.

When she joined the trial, she immediately appreciated the level of care and monitoring she received as a participant. 

Most importantly, after around eight months, her fistulas started to close. After trying so many treatment options, she finally achieved remission. 

Today, she advocates for Crohn's patients at events around the country, on social media, and on her blog Own Your Crohn's – efforts that recently won the Healio Disruptive Innovator Award in the Patient Voice category. She's also partnering with Antidote to help connect her community with research opportunities that might be right for them. 

“What remission meant to me was better quality of life, less fatigue, being able to go on vacation and pursue my hobbies, starting to write again, doing advocacy work,” says Tina. “It gave me hope.”

She shared more about her experience in a video – check it out below.