Durhane Wong-Rieger

Dr. Wong-Rieger is President & CEO of the Canadian Organization for Rare Disorders, the umbrella organization of patients and patient groups, and chair of the Consumer Advocare Network, a national network for patient engagement in healthcare policy and advocacy. She is also President & CEO of the Institute for Optimizing Health Outcomes, providing training and direct service on health coaching and patient self-management. Dr. Wong-Rieger has served on numerous health policy advisory committees and panels and is a member of the Advisory Board for the Canadian Institutes of Health Research Institute of Genetics and the Patient Liaison Forum for the Canadian Drugs and Technologies in Health. As president of the Canadian Hemophilia Society, Dr. Wong-Rieger advocated on behalf of victims of tainted blood and was named to the Board of Directors of the Canadian Blood Services and the National Blood Safety Council. She has served on numerous health policy advisory committees and panels, including Project Coordinator for the Policy Dialogues for the Commission on the Future of Healthcare in Canada and consultant to the Ontario Premier’s Advisory Board on Organ Donation. Internationally, Dr. Wong-Rieger is immediate Past-Chair of the International Alliance of Patient Organizations, Board Member representing patient interests at DIA International Association, Steering Member of the Health Technology Assessment International Patient /Citizen Involvement Interest Group and Secretary of the Asia Pacific Alliance of Rare Disease Organizations. She is Content Editor of the Patient Research Exchange and on the editorial board of the The Patient. Her other areas of interest are health technology assessment and biosimilars. Dr. Wong-Rieger is a certified Health Coach and licensed T-Trainer with the Stanford-based Living A Healthy Life with Chronic Conditions. Dr. Wong-Rieger has a PhD in psychology from McGill University and was professor at the University of Windsor, Canada from 1984-1999. She is a trainer and frequent lecturer and author of three books and many articles.