2022 Speaker Profile

Emily Parks is a chronically ill young professional based out of the Washington D.C. area working in behavioral health and patient advocacy. Having been diagnosed with short bowel syndrome in infancy and unable to absorb nutrition orally she was dependent on Parenteral Nutrition until receiving an isolated small bowel transplant from MedStar Georgetown University Hospital.

Despite these challenges, Emily has both traveled and lived internationally, is a graduate of Boston University, and currently works outside of Washington D.C. as a Supervising Vocational Specialist. In this role, she coordinated a team that aids individuals with mental illness in obtaining and maintaining employment. Combining her expertise in behavioral health with her lived experience of navigating multiple tertiary hospitals firsthand has led her down the path of studying the impact of medical trauma and medical PTSD on patients and their treatment outcomes as well as the power of conscious communication throughout the U.S. healthcare system.

Emily serves as the Massachusetts Pilot Director for Health Advocacy Summit, a member of Young Adult Representatives of RDLA through the EveryLife Foundation for Rare Diseases, the secretary of MedStar Georgetown Hospital’s Patient & Family Advisory Council for Quality and Safety, and has been an invited speaker at multiple national forums.