The #1 source for rare disease information and connection
Since 2013, we’ve been committed to serving patients and elevating their voices.
With over 50% of our team living with or caring for someone with a rare condition, we understand the unique challenges and needs of these communities. We’ve built a network of over 500,000 registered members actively seeking news, clinical information and sharing experiences.
This creates a safe space for peer support, connection, and learning.
Rare expertise
Our team’s expertise, which includes 150+ writers and moderators, allows us to support the patient at every step of their rare disease journey.
Science + Community Writers and Moderators
Our science and news editorial team are leading PhDs who are actively seeking out and curating science-backed news that no one else covers.
From the community writers to the forum moderators, the unique rare patient perspective provides a rare level of empathy.
Community moderators
Our communities are built from the stories and connections of those living with rare diseases. From the writers to the forum moderators, the unique patient perspective is always front and center. Below are just a few of the moderators that lend their expertise to our communities.
Ally Macgregor
Parkinson’s News Today
Alyssa Silva
SMA News Today
Amanda Sifford
ALS News Today
Ashley Zona
Lambert-Eaton News
Ben Hofmeister
Multiple Sclerosis News Today
Charlene Marshall
Pulmonary Fibrosis News
Colleen Steele
Pulmonary Hypertension News
Deann Runge
SMA News Today
Dagmar Munn
ALS News Today
Jen Cueva
Pulmonary Hypertension News
Jodi Enders
Myasthenia Gravis News
Mary Beth Skylis
Parkinson’s News Today
William Ryan
Cystic Fibrosis News Today
Ally Macgregor
Parkinson’s News Today
Ally Macgregor lives and works in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. She loves being physically active, traveling, cooking, baking, reading, and spending time with friends and family. A lifelong learner, she is currently working on her MBA through the University of Fredericton’s Sandermoen School of Business.
Alyssa Silva
SMA News Today
Diagnosed at 5 months of age, Alyssa has set out to raise awareness about life with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) type 1 through writing. By getting personal and being open about her trials and triumphs, she wants the world to know that SMA can put up a good fight, but we can always fight back exceedingly harder. Aside from writing, Alyssa is the community director for an adaptive fashion brand and has founded her own nonprofit called Working On Walking. In her free time, she enjoys discovering new coffee shops within a 50-mile radius of her hometown in Rhode Island.
Amanda Sifford
ALS News Today
Amanda Sifford is a school psychologist living in Florida. Her family has a history of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) spanning multiple generations. Her family has participated in several research studies and has found that they have a mutated gene that is believed to be the cause of ALS. Amanda also has the mutated gene and has been volunteering for ALS research for about 10 years. She brings her experiences to the ALS News Today Forums, connecting with patients and caregivers around the globe.
Charlene Marshall
Pulmonary Fibrosis News
Charlene is a fiercely independent 30-something-year-old who can’t sit still. She loves coffee, wine tasting, playing with her dog, and spending time on the beach with her family. She’s a lover of all things travel and never passes up an opportunity for a dip in the ocean! A proud Canadian, Charlene was diagnosed with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) in 2016 after 13 months of investigation into sudden shortness of breath, a chronic cough, and unusual fatigue. IPF has forced her to slow down, but she’s slowly learning the value of quality versus quantity in everything she does.
Colleen Steele
Pulmonary Hypertension News
Colleen Steele is a forum moderator and columnist for Pulmonary Hypertension News. She was born and raised in New Jersey and received a Bachelor of Arts in English from Immaculata University in 1994. Colleen lives in Washington state with her husband and two sons. Her oldest child was diagnosed with idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension when he was 8. At 14, he received a heart and double-lung transplant. As a forum moderator she shares her experience advocating for her son and makes a great effort to help educate, inspire and support other patients and caregivers living with PH.
Dagmar Munn
ALS News Today
When Dagmar was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) at the age of 59 in 2010, she tapped into her nearly 30 years of professional experience. She not only follows her own wellness and fitness advice but also inspires and teaches others to do the same. Dagmar is a patient columnist for ALS News Today, writing “Living Well with ALS.” In addition, she is one of the moderators for the ALS News Today Forum and writes a personal blog called “ALS and Wellness.” She lives in Arizona, enjoying finding humor in life’s situations, and spends her free time pursuing creative projects in fiber arts.
Deann Runge
SMA News Today
DeAnn’s role at Bionews is multifaceted. Not only does she moderate the forums on SMA News Today, but she also records content for flash briefings and creates vlogs that focus on living life with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). DeAnn strives to show others that they can live a fulfilled life regardless of challenges. Despite her physical strength being limited, she takes pride in being extremely strong-willed.
Jodi Enders
Myasthenia Gravis News
Jodi Enders is the forum moderator for Myasthenia Gravis News. Jodi resides in Florida, where she loves to fossil hunt and paddle with manatees in the springs. Jodi hopes that her anthropological specialties in cultural sensitivity, providing resources to marginalized individuals, and engaging digital communities will enhance the perspectives and struggles of those living with myasthenia gravis (MG). Jodi aims to use lived experiences with MG as examples to help spread compassion and mindfulness globally.
Mary Beth Skylis
Parkinson’s News Today
Mary Beth is a freelance writer specializing in personal narratives. Her work focuses on the outdoors and the transformative powers of nature. When her dad was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 2013, her search to understand the disease materialized through language. She now writes to help others understand the disease and how to be a compassionate caregiver.
Ashley Zona
Lambert-Eaton News
Doctors diagnosed Ashley with Lambert-Eaton syndrome in September 2016. She works full time as an operating room nurse, and spends her free time with her three fluffy dogs — two Aussies and one Aussie-Husky. She also enjoys reading, hiking, yoga, traveling, and playing pickleball with her fiancé.
Ben Hofmeister
Multiple Sclerosis News Today
Doctors diagnosed Ben Hofmeister with primary progressive multiple sclerosis in 2014, ending a 22-year career in the U.S. Army as both a Ranger and Green Beret. He gradually settled into a wonderful retired life in Anniston, Alabama, with his wife and their three boys. He couldn’t be happier. After being inspired by the writing of others with MS, he decided to add his own voice. His column is raw and honest, but sometimes sarcastic and pithy too. MS is a serious disease but a life with it doesn’t always have to be.
Jen Cueva
Pulmonary Hypertension News
Jen Cueva, a columnist and forum moderator for Pulmonary Hypertension News Today, was diagnosed with pulmonary hypertension (PH) in 2005. Previously a nurse, Jen’s life changed course after her diagnosis. Advocating for the PH community and connecting with others affected by the condition have always been essential to her. Her passion lies in instilling hope and reminding those in the PH community that they are not alone. Through her weekly column, she delves into the emotional rollercoaster of living with PH. Jen lives in sunny California with her husband and mini schnauzer. Their motto: Together we PHight stronger.
William Ryan
Cystic Fibrosis News Today
William Ryan is a columnist for Cystic Fibrosis News. Hailing from New Jersey’s Garden State, William manages both cystic fibrosis (CF) and cystic fibrosis-related diabetes. He’s married to his wife, Gina, and they share their home with their canine companions, Otis and Ruby. As a former standup comedian, William hopes to bridge his humor and love of sports and pop culture in his column, “Understanding Nonsense.” He has a nonsense gene of CF, which is a rare mutation. William hopes that he can advocate for for all of those with CF, especially those with rare mutations
Partners
Leadership
There is no greater example of our commitment to serving rare disease patient communities than the talented, diverse group of professionals who comprise our team. Nowhere else can you find such a group of industry visionaries, award-winning journalists, proven researchers, and inspired patients. By combining all their unique skill sets and experience, they are able to create the content and environment that make our communities special.
Here are just a few featured profiles from among our growing team of talented professionals:
Chris Comish
Founder/CEO
Brian Keigley
President Bionews
Ethan Ash
SVP of Business Development
Jessica Barrale Cao
Director of Social Media
Kellie Benn
SVP of Editorial
Alex Coletta
SVP of Product & Audience Development
Alyssa Crawford
VP of Business Development
Marcella Debidda
President Bionews Clinical
Brad Dell
Director of Community Content
Shana Gray
Copy Chief
Ashley Kaywood
VP of Client Strategy and Success
Matthew Lafleur
Jeff Lapointe
SVP of Technology
Lauren Hannon
VP of Strategy & Growth
Ines Martins
Associate Director of Science Content
Michael Morale
Sr. Marketing Analytics Manager
Jenn Powell
Brand Marketing Manager
Kevin Schaefer
Associate Director of Community Content
Patricia Silva
Director of Science Content
Kellie Benn
SVP of Editorial
Kellie started out as a copy editor with Bionews in February 2018 and now serves as SVP of Editorial of the organization. She had previously worked for a variety of newspapers as a copy editor, working her way up to deputy night editor at a regional newspaper in Virginia. She is an Army veteran and served for eight years as a Russian linguist. After leaving the service, she went on to graduate from Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas, with a bachelor’s degree in communication and Russian. Her interest in and experience with the Russian language led her to a Fulbright fellowship in 2012, awarding her the opportunity to spend an academic year in Oryol, Russia, teaching English to university students. A lifelong equestrian, she can usually be found at the barn hanging out with her horse, Penny, in her spare time.
Brian Keigley
President Bionews
Brian Keigley is the President of Bionews. Brian began working with Bionews in a consulting role in 2020 before becoming President in 2022. Brian has a long and very successful career as founder, startup expert and digital media executive. He launched and sold several companies and, most recently, spent 12 years building the sales and marketing divisions of a successful digital media company.As President, Brian oversees sales and client operations and works alongside the CEO and SVP of Strategy and Growth, in defining Bionews’ corporate strategy. Brian continues to refine the company’s operations and positions Bionews for rapid market expansion.
Chris Comish
Founder/CEO
Chris developed the Bionews concept as a way to leverage digital news content as a means of reaching and connecting with rare disease populations who had little to no access to fresh, accurate, and authoritative information about their disease online. His vision has fueled the growth and maturation of patient/caregiver ecosystems that are enriching rare disease communities online while also providing a platform for offering valuable services for helping biotech, health, and life sciences companies fulfill their marketing and promotional objectives. Chris works in every facet of the Bionews work process, from serving as a direct contact with all clients to helping shape the editorial focus of each site in the publisher role.
Marcella Debidda
President Bionews Clinical
Marcella is the president of Bionews Clinical where she is involved in every facet of the work process that connects patients in our rare disease communities with ongoing clinical trials. As a creative builder and change agent, her mission is to promote a human-centered healthcare system built on empathy and radical collaboration: where patients are integral contributors to the collective efforts aimed at advancing the understanding and cure of rare and chronic diseases. Over the past 12 years, across multiple organizations, including Harvard Clinical Research Institute, Science 37, and monARC Bionetworks, she led a multitude of patient-centric projects spanning from patient-powered trial design, patient recruitment and engagement for traditional and virtual/remote clinical trials, patient community development, growth, and engagement through co-creation with peers. She serves as an adviser to pharmaceutical companies, nonprofit organizations, healthcare innovation accelerators and startups for topics related to effective patient engagement in clinical trials and co-creation with patients.
Brad Dell
Director of Community Content
Brad Dell has cystic fibrosis and a double-lung transplant. Technically deaf, he hears with the help of cochlear implants. Before Bionews, he worked as a copy editor and journalist for several culture and lifestyle magazines in Hawaii. He was also the executive editor for Honolulu’s Abstract Magazine. He serves as the Bionews director of community content, boosting patients’ and caregivers’ voices to cultivate change in the chronic conditions community. To do so, he recruits, trains, edits, and supports dozens of columnists.
Brittany Foster
People and Culture Manager
Brittany Foster is the people and culture manager at Bionews and a columnist for Pulmonary Hypertension News. She has a bachelor’s degree from Providence College in special education, elementary, and middle school education. Prior to Bionews, she worked as an eighth-grade special educator. She took her passion for advocating for students in a classroom and now advocates for those with rare diseases.
It is her mission as people and culture manager to ensure all hires have this same passion and desire to achieve a better quality of life for our patient communities. Brittany leads the management of Bionews’ HR information system, onboarding and offboarding, company training, recruiting and hiring, benefits enrollment and works with the accounting team to coordinate payroll changes for Bionews.
Brittany lives in Cranston, Rhode Island, where she loves to explore hiking trails with her Cavalier King Charles spaniel, Bernie.
Shana Gray
Copy Chief
Shana Gray has served as copy chief with Bionews since March 2022. She previously worked for a number of newspapers in the Southeast, serving most recently as editor of six local news publications in Virginia. Shana started working at newspapers in high school and worked her way through college while serving at The Fayetteville (N.C.) Observer, in her hometown. She now resides in Hampton Roads, Virginia, where she enjoys reading in sight of the Chesapeake Bay and playing with her two pups, Roxie and Gus.
Michael Morale
Sr. Marketing Analytics Manager
Michael received his Bachelor of Science in business administration, with a major in management information systems in 1990, from the University of Texas at Dallas. In 2000, he received his MBA, with a major in management, from Amber University. In his working career, Michael worked for various companies, including ExxonMobil Corporation, where he was responsible for safety and ergonomics for the Dallas region. Along with working for ExxonMobil, Michael was an adjunct faculty member and college instructor for the Dallas County Community College District for 18 years. Due to his spinal muscular atrophy, he was forced to go on permanent disability in 2010.
Michael began working for Bionews Services as a YouTube developer and podcast specialist in June 2018. Currently, Michael is the Sr. Marketing Analytics Manager, and he’s collaborating with executive leadership and management to obtain, organize, and summarize relevant daily and monthly statistical data, so that he can report this information directly to the CEO and VP on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis. Michael ensures the tracking and reporting of key statistical data to ensure that upper management has the information they need in their decision-making process.
Jenn Powell
Brand Marketing Manager
Jenn Powell is the Bionews brand marketing manager. She lives in Southern California where she enjoys volunteering for animal rescue and spending time with her husband and golden retrievers. From her time at Bionews, Jenn has created content for and collaborated with multiple divisions of Bionews, including Bionews Insights and Bionews Clinical. Jenn is driven to elevate the needs of those in the rare disease communities. She has done so through her column, reading of news briefings, and hosting the recently launched MS News Podcast. Her patient perspective complements her passion and industry acumen for cultivating and engaging communities both within and outside of Bionews.
Jessica Barrale Cao
Director of Social Media
Jessica Barrale Cao joined the Bionews team as the Director of Social Media in 2023 and works from our headquarters in Downtown Pensacola, FL. A self-proclaimed idealist, Jessica believes in using her knowledge and skills to make a positive impact. She is proud to work with the diverse, mission-driven team at Bionews and to contribute to that mission by using social media to connect and empower members of the rare disease communities we serve.
Jessica holds a BA in marketing and an MA in strategic communication and leadership, both from the University of West Florida. She has worked in various marketing and communications roles with a variety of organizations including Special Olympics Florida, Emerald Coast Utilities Authority, and even an MGM Casino property in her hometown on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. She has also used her digital marketing and social media skills as an independent contractor in the health and wellness niche. Jessica is passionate about personal growth, health and wellness, and social and environmental causes.
In her free time, she enjoys listening to audiobooks and podcasts, practicing yoga, traveling, exploring nature, and spending time with friends and family, especially her two sons, Enzo and Roman.
Kevin Schaefer
Director Forums
Kevin graduated from North Carolina State University with a bachelor’s degree in English in 2016, and he is passionate about different forms of storytelling. He started at Bionews in 2017 as a columnist for SMA News Today, sharing his experiences as an adult with spinal muscular atrophy type 2. He eventually transitioned to a full-time role, helping build the company’s multimedia and forums divisions. As associate director of community content, he is responsible for supporting the director of community content in bridging the gap between our patient populations and our websites. He does this through building and maintaining patient and caregiver forums across Bionews’ disease sites. He oversees every step of the process, from hiring, training, and guiding forum moderators. His goal is to create engaging and supportive online communities for patients and caregivers to connect.
Patricia Silva
Senior Managing News Editor
Patricia holds a PhD in medical microbiology and infectious diseases from the Leiden University Medical Center in Leiden, Netherlands. She has studied applied biology at Universidade do Minho and was a postdoctoral research fellow at institute de Medical Moleculer in Lisbon, Portugal. Her role at Bionews has led her to build a team of PhD researchers who serve as science writers and editors, whose role is to ensure that the science and research that Bionews reports on daily is 100% accurate, while also written in a way that allows patients and caregivers to easily grasp the important details.
Josh Kramon
EVP of Commercial Partnerships
As the executive vice president of business development at Bionews, Josh Kramon leads all sales and business development initiatives. He comes to Bionews with more than 25 years of experience focused on the tech, data, and media side of life sciences. He’s managed business development teams at Doctor.com, Crossix, Vitals, and Healthline, and as an executive team member, led several of them to successful corporate acquisition.
Ashley Kaywood
VP of Client Strategy and Success
Ashley Kaywood joined Bionews in July 2022 as vice president of client strategy and success. Ashley is a passionate and experienced client services and revenue operations leader with more than 10 years of experience in the digital health space. She is laser focused on creating operational efficiencies, providing customer focused solutions, and the strategic growth of revenue and people. She has previously worked for Everyday Health, Medicx Health and Adprime Health. Ashley is from New Haven, Connecticut, and resides in Jersey City, New Jersey, with her dog, Cooper, and cat, Olivia.
Jeff Lapointe
SVP of Technology
Jeff LaPointe joined Bionews as the senior vice president of technology in 2022. Jeff has spent the last 20 years in digital health startups and patient advocacy as a founder and executive leader. He has built digital health platforms that have driven more than 1 billion healthcare consumers to make better cost and quality decisions by enabling healthcare transparency at scale. At Bionews, Jeff is leveraging his expertise in digital marketing and technology to enhance the digital user experience and drive site growth.
Matthew Lafleur
Director of Business Development and Patient Advocacy
Louisiana native Matthew Lafleur’s life isn’t what he expected following his 1994 diagnosis of Friedreich’s ataxia, a rare and debilitating disorder. Instead of giving up, he obtained degrees in English and mental health counseling. Unable to find a job after grad school, he applied to write a column at Friedreich’s Ataxia News. Years later, he now serves as the Associate Director of Patient Engagement for that site’s parent company, Bionews. Through his column and his role in patient engagement, Matt hopes to elevate the often overlooked voices of the rare disease population. We are not victims. We matter.
Alex Coletta
SVP of Product & Audience Development
Alex Coletta is the SVP of Product and Audience Development at Bionews. With more than 20 years of digital health experience, he’s created captivating digital products for both healthcare practitioners and patients, covering various disease areas including cardiovascular, diabetes and endocrinology, pain management, mental health, spine and musculoskeletal, HIV/AIDS, oncology, dermatology, and beyond. Alex also has played a pivotal role in deploying engaging products, including CME and course-based learning programs, condition-focused platforms, peer-to-peer HCP videos, branded and unbranded microsites, community-based tools, physician directories, point of care programs, virtual and in-person webinars and conferences, and more.
He has expertise in driving and nurturing repeat audiences among patients and HCPs, often catering to niche segments by utilizing both paid and organic traffic channels. He’s employed data-driven approaches and automation to help orchestrate large-scale email marketing efforts and has implemented SEO and E-E-A-T strategies at scale in the health space. Alex embraces emerging technologies, particularly those in AI content, image, and video generation, and often integrates new trends and tools into the healthcare landscape. He lives in northern New Jersey with his wife and two sons.
Ethan Ash
SVP of Business Development
Ethan joined Bionews in September 2022 following two decades in the health information and publishing space – where he was responsible for the launch, growth, and sale of Vertical Health to Remedy Health Media in 2019. After a few years working in business development at Remedy, Ethan joined Bionews to focus on content and community building around health conditions in need of a spotlight. Having a close family member with a rare disease only added to his interest in serving such an important and sometimes overlooked group.
Ethan is a graduate of Cornell University in Ithaca, NY, where he lives with three boys (Rylan, Liam, and Eli) and his wife, Rachel, a mental health therapist. In addition to his work in the health information space, Ethan founded Ithaca’s Youth Entrepreneurship Market (www.YEMithaca.com), which helps young people develop an entrepreneurial mindset and gives them an opportunity to bring their ideas to life. Ethan was recently recognized as Ithaca’s Hometown Hero for his work with area youth as well as for his roles serving on several mission-driven boards and committees around the region.
Ines Martins
Associate Director of Science Content
Inês holds a PhD in biomedical sciences from the University of Lisbon, Portugal, where she specialized in blood vessel biology, blood stem cells, and cancer. Before that, she studied cell and molecular biology and worked as a research fellow at multiple institutes. In addition to several college awards, Inês won the Pfizer Basic Research Award in 2012 for a research paper. She also has a graduate degree in data science.
Lauren Hannon
VP of Strategy & Growth
Lauren Hannon started at Bionews as a consultant and now serves as vice president of Strategy & Growth. She resides in New Jersey with her husband and son. Lauren spent eight years working in the digital health space leading client success and strategy teams and after a brief pause from work to spend quality time with her baby, she is excited to get back to work. Lauren graduated from St. Joseph’s University on Long Island, New York, with a degree in business administration. During college, she worked part-time at a local hospital serving food to patients, which drove her passion for customer service in the health space. She reflects on how a smile and brief conversation with patients made a major impact on their entire day. Lauren admires the work Bionews is doing to serve the rare disease community and is thrilled to join a team whose work truly matters to patients and caregivers.
Alyssa Crawford
VP of Business Development
Alyssa Crawford is a VP of Business Development at Bionews and has been working in the media and digital advertising industry for 10 years, focusing on digital pharma and healthcare over the last 5 years. She is excited to be a part of the Bionews team and help the company grow by bridging the gap between pharma and patients/caregivers in the rare disease space. Alyssa graduated from Syracuse University with a Bachelor’s of Science in Public Relations back in 2015 and currently lives right outside the city of Philadelphia with her husband. She enjoys exploring different cities, trying new restaurants (especially Italian ones!), and loves to spend her summers at her family’s beach house in Wildwood Crest, NJ.