Board of Directors
Cecilia Dueñas Fryckman, Psy.D
CEO and Advocate for Rare Liver Disease Research and Health Equity
Dr. Cecilia Dueñas Fryckman is a bilingual Spanish/English Latina Clinical Psychologist, mother of two, and wife based in Southern California. Diagnosed with Primary Biliary Cholangitis (PBC) in 2021 after more than six years of undiagnosed symptoms and healthcare inequities, she turned her personal journey into a mission to advocate for patients facing rare liver diseases and health disparities.
Cecilia’s lived experience as a Latina navigating a rare disease inspired her to share her story to empower others. Her advocacy began as a patient ambassador with the Global Liver Institute (GLI), where she graduated from the Advanced Advocacy Academy (A3) in 2023 and participated in panels, webinars, and patient education initiatives in both English and Spanish. She has collaborated with major stakeholders, including Intercept Pharmaceuticals and Ipsen, contributing to educational campaigns, patient panels, and videos aimed at increasing awareness and understanding of PBC among clinicians, researchers, and patients.
Recognizing a significant gap in the representation of patient-owned, regulatory-compliant data—particularly for underserved populations like AMA-negative Latina PBC patients—Cecilia founded a PBC-focused research foundation in 2024. Her foundation prioritizes non-biased, patient-centered data collection and works in collaboration with regulatory boards, clinicians, and PBC stakeholders to advance research and treatment options for all patients.
Cecilia’s contributions to the PBC and liver health communities include:
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Participation in patient education videos and webinars addressing barriers to diagnosis and health equity (2021–2024).
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Presenting at the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD) in 2024 on the neurobiochemistry of self-help.
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Featuring in Ipsen’s patient education campaigns, including a Hulu and Netflix commercial in 2024.
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Founding a PBC research foundation in 2024 to bridge data gaps and support innovative treatments.
Through her advocacy and leadership, Cecilia strives to ensure that all PBC patients, particularly those from underrepresented communities, have a voice in advancing research, education, and equitable healthcare practices.
Gina Bartes
Gina Bartes is a mission-driven health advocacy executive and global leader in liver health, dedicated to improving outcomes for individuals and families affected by liver disease through innovation, cross-sector collaboration, and systems-level change.
Her leadership is informed by professional expertise and firsthand experience navigating the healthcare system, bringing a deep, personal understanding of what patients and caregivers face as they move through complex diagnostic pathways, delayed referrals, and fragmented models of care.
Throughout her long career, Gina has worked to translate patient experience into action—building programs, policies, and partnerships that reduce diagnostic delays, improve care coordination, and ensure individuals are supported from initial concern through diagnosis, treatment, and long-term management.
She is especially focused on closing gaps between primary care and specialty care, elevating patient voices in clinical and policy decision-making, and designing solutions that meet people where they are.A trusted advocate for patients, care partners, and multiple stakeholders, Gina is recognized for uniting diverse coalitions—academic institutions, clinicians, researchers, public health leaders, policymakers, industry partners, and community organizations—to confront stigma, implicit bias, expand access to quality care, and normalize liver health as a public health priority.
Her approach emphasizes measurable impact, accountability, and sustainability, grounded in the belief that systems work best when they are built around the people and the causes they are meant to serve.
Gina received a peer nominated appointment in 2026 to the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD) Patient Advocacy Group, and previously served full terms on the AASLD Practice Guidelines Committee and AASLD Fundamentals of Liver Disease (FOLD) Committee.
Gina is the co-founder of Hep Free AZ, an Arizona statewide collaborative advancing viral hepatitis elimination through coordinated implementation strategies and started United Liver in 2023, initially created to focus on health equity and low-barrier access to liver disease screening, diagnosis, and treatment in rural and underserved areas. Gina is a mentor to the inaugural Dr. Stephen A. Harrison Patient Advocacy Fellowship cohort.
Gina also serves as a member of the Donate Life Arizona Medical Executive Committee, the National Viral Hepatitis Roundtable Diagnostics Working Group, the EASL Global Liver Action Network, and multiple national and international advisory boards supporting advocacy, research, and public health innovation.
Kristin Hatcher, MsED
Kristin Hatcher is a dedicated advocate for drug development and education, known for her impactful work in both fields. With a background in pharmaceutical sciences and education, Kristin has dedicated her career to bridging the gap between research and practical application, ensuring that advancements in drug development translate into real-world benefits.
Through her advocacy in drug development, Kristin actively collaborates with patients, pharmaceutical companies, researchers, and health organizations to promote innovative treatments and therapies.
She is passionate about addressing unmet medical needs and works tirelessly to advocate for policies that support research funding and accessibility to new therapeutics.
Her efforts focus on ensuring that patients receive timely and equitable access to life-saving treatments.
Prior to joining United Liver, Kristin was the Deputy Director of Operations at COMBINEDBrain, a consortium of over 100 rare, genetic, neurological pediatric patient-related advocacy groups with the mission of effectively and efficiently capturing biomarkers and defining outcome measures to expedite and enhance research efforts in rare diseases.
During her time at COMBINEDBrain, she developed a passion for the patient role in drug development, a love of the use of data to gain insight into patient perspectives, and learned the power of combining efforts in the rare diseases community to speed the pathway to treatment and cures.
As the oldest living diagnosed Alpha-1 MZ patient in her family, her goal is to also be the first Alpha-1 MZ patient in her family to make it to 65 year old.
When she isn’t advocating for rare diseases, she enjoys traveling with her husband, visiting her grown daughter, playing with her beloved Golden Doodle, talking to her millions of girlfriends, catching up with her former students and mentees, practicing yoga, and volunteering for Tennessee Voices for Victims.
Megan Didier
Meg Didier is a patient advocate and engagement strategist with over 15 years of experience advancing patient-centered approaches across healthcare, research, nonprofit, and pharmaceutical settings. She is the founder and principal consultant at Patient Bridge Solutions, where she partners with organizations to integrate lived experience into strategy, system design, and clinical research.
Meg specializes in embedding patient and caregiver insights across the healthcare ecosystem, from early development through implementation and post-market learning. Her expertise spans learning health networks, quality improvement research, clinical trial design, recruitment and retention, and community-driven engagement models. Her work focuses on translating lived experience into actionable insights and meaningful evidence that strengthen research, inform care, and improve outcomes.
Meg has extensive experience in the liver space, informed by both professional leadership and lived experience. As someone living with Fontan-associated liver disease, she brings a unique perspective on the long-term realities of complex chronic conditions and the importance of care models that bridge organ systems rather than treat them in silos.
She previously led the Advanced Advocacy Academy (A3) at the Global Liver Institute, where she developed programs to build sustainable patient engagement infrastructure and strengthen patient leadership in research, policy, and care. Her work has focused on elevating the patient voice in liver disease education, clinical development, and health system improvement.
In addition to her liver-focused work, Meg currently directs engagement efforts at Sisters by Heart, supporting patients and families living with single ventricle conditions. She also co-founded Single Ventricle Patient Day and serves as Co-Lead for the Community Building and Engagement Workgroup with the Single Ventricle Outcomes Network. Meg also serves on the board of Global ARCH, advancing collaboration, advocacy, and outcomes for individuals living with childhood-onset and rheumatic heart disease.