Rare Patient Voice with Wes Michael

Please visit the Rare Patient Voice website for more information, or reach out to Lauren Holder at lauren@help4hd.org

WES MICHAEL
Founder and President, Rare Patient Voice

Wes Michael founded Rare Patient Voice in 2013 to give patients and family caregivers the opportunity to voice their opinions through taking part in research studies. Rare Patient Voice has now recruited for thousands of studies and rewarded patients and family caregivers with over $13 million for their participation. Many have been recruited in person by Wes and his team at patient events and through a robust referral program with patient advocacy and support groups. Rare Patient Voice now covers over 1,500 rare and non-rare diseases and conditions and has expanded from the United States to Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Australia, and New Zealand.

Before launching Rare Patient Voice, Wes worked for healthcare market research firm Kantar Health. He previously was a brand manager and market research manager at McCormick (the spice company) and General Mills (working on Wheaties, Total and Kix cereals). He has a BA from the University of Pennsylvania (with a year at Edinburgh University) and an MBA from the University of Chicago.

Wes lives outside Baltimore, Maryland, with his wife, Cathy, children Julia and Cliff, grandson Taylor, and dog Stanley.