Dawn Richards, PhD, is the founder of Five02 Labs Inc., and Director of Patient and Public Engagement at Clinical Trials Ontario. With a PhD (Analytical Chemistry) from the University of Alberta, and experience in a variety of roles over the past 20 years, it is her diagnosis with rheumatoid arthritis in 2006 that started her journey to combine her passion for science with making the most of her diagnosis. In her role at CTO, Dawn is charged with executing on CTO’s strategic pillar of patient and public engagement.
Dawn has contributed to the literature and practice in patient engagement around compensation of patient partners, authorship with patient partners, recognizing patients as people with various skills and who lead fulfilling lives, and education around patient engagement in research. As a volunteer, Dawn is Vice President of the Canadian Arthritis Patient Alliance and a member of The BMJ’s Patient Advisory Panel.