Swapna Kakani MPH

Swapna is an award-winning advocate in the area of rare and chronic disease healthcare delivery and the patient experience. Her own life story of being diagnosed with the rare disease short bowel syndrome, at birth, and now a strong advocate, shows her individual resilience and self-determination in the face of constant difficulties. Swapna has lived with nutrition through an IV and/or a feeding tube for 33 years and received a small intestine organ transplant as a young adult. Swapna through her platform, Swapna Speaks, has given several presentations across the world to various healthcare companies and associations, hospitals, and non-profit events, including a TEDx talk in 2017. She does healthcare advocacy work for the Short Bowel Syndrome/Intestinal Failure/HPEN and rare disease community, and in 2021 stated the gutsy perspective, a community driven research initiative to study quality of life in the SBS/IF community. In 2019, Swapna was awarded the consumer advocacy award by ASPEN. In 2020, she was awarded the Innovator/Advocator Award by the Oley Foundation. You can follow Swapna on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram @SwapnaSpeaks. Swapna, originally from Alabama, received her Bachelor's in Psychology and Master’s in Public Health from the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB).

info@swapnakakani.com