Managing Your Mental Health While Facing a Chronic Illness

Brad Love works to help people thrive. At the University of Texas at Austin, he serves as University Distinguished Teaching Professor and an associate professor in the Center for Health Communication, where his work largely focuses on improving quality of life for young adults affected by cancer.  In particular, his research focuses on boosting access to mental health, social, and informational support. Love's projects have been supported by MD Anderson Cancer Center, the Livestrong Foundation, and the American Cancer Society, among others.

My clinical focus is the treatment of cancer survivors coping with late/long-term effects including physical, emotional, and interpersonal difficulties. I have expertise providing counseling that address women's health issues, including sexual and reproductive health, and lead the Women's Sexual Health & Cancer clinic within the Center for Integrative Medicine. My research focuses on improving cancer survivorship through better understanding of late/long-term effects, unmet needs, and preferences for support, and through the development of patient-centered behavioral interventions.

Nitika Chopra is the founder of Chronicon, a media and events company, dedicated to elevating the lives of those living with a chronic illness. Nitika was diagnosed with psoriasis at the age of 10 and psoriatic arthritis at the age of 19 and lived over 17 years of her life being defined by her conditions. In 2010 she decided to take all of the lessons her health journey had taught her and use it to help others with the creation of her online magazine Bella Life. Since the start of her entrepreneurial journey Nitika has hosted her own TV talk show on Z Living called Naturally Beautiful, hosted over 40 events with hundreds of guests in attendance and has created dynamic partnerships with over 150 brands in the wellness space.

After 10 years in event creation, Nitika launched Chronicon in the fall of 2019, focused on those living with a chronic illness. The event sold out, had over 2,000 livestream viewers, high-level brand sponsors and has been growing ever since. Now, Nitika is excited to announce that Chronicon is expanding online with The Chronicon Community, a new, accessible online space with inspiration, advocacy, and empowerment for chronically ill folks across the globe to connect. Nitika is also the host of The Point of Pain podcast which is available wherever you enjoy your podcasts. Follow her for daily inspiration @NitikaChopra + @ChroniconOfficial.

Renata is an executive director and the worldwide medical lead for dermatology. She is the chair of worldwide Medical Affairs Strategic Team and Medical Launch Readiness Forum for deucravacitinib. She joined BMS WW Medical Affairs, Immunology & Fibrosis in 2018. 

Renata is a board-certified dermatologist and has 15 years of pharmaceutical medical affairs experience. During her career she worked on cutting edge science and blockbuster medications and launched four drugs in dermatology.

Renata currently holds a position of the Worldwide Executive Director and Lead for Dermatology, Immunology at Bristol Myers Squibb, with focus on psoriasis and development of a novel oral selective tyrosine kinase 2 inhibitor currently approved as Sotyktu™, a new first in class treatment for psoriasis in US and Japan. She will be leading launches in psoriasis in other countries as well as leading Phase IV research and Investigator Sponsored research program in other immune-mediated diseases.

Prior to joining Bristol-Myers Squibb Renata worked at Novartis as a US Medical Lead and launch team leader in the Immunology & Dermatology Medical Unit, U.S. Clinical Development and Medical Affairs, with focus on treatment of basal cell carcinoma, psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis; hedgehog pathway inhibitor sonidegib and IL-17A inhibitor secukinumab, respectively. 

Before joining Novartis Renata was the Head of U.S. Medical Affairs at Pierre Fabre Pharmaceuticals, where she established the Medical Affairs organization and lead the launch of propranolol pediatric oral formulation for infantile hemangioma.

Renata started her pharmaceutical industry career at Allergan Global Medical Affairs, where she played a critical role in establishing and leading the Global Facial Aesthetics team. Her therapeutic areas of focus also included Medical Dermatology, Neurology and Urology, and products onabotulinumtoxinA, collagen and hyaluronic acid facial fillers, topical dapsone, tazarotene and bimatoprost.

Molly Murray serves as President and CEO of the Autoimmune Association where she leads efforts to improve the lives of those living with autoimmune disease by advancing the organization’s four pillars: Advocacy, Services and Education, Public Awareness and Research. She is a career nonprofit and trade association professional who holds a Master of Arts in Public Policy from the University of Chicago, as well as the CAE credential.