Patient Insights Board Member
Phyllisa Deroze is a global diabetes patient advocate and Director of Research at dQ&A. She began blogging almost immediately after being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in 2011. A year later she founded Black Diabetic Info, a website dedicated to increasing awareness of cultural-competent diabetes information from around the African Diaspora. In 2019, after becoming extremely ill, she learned that she had been misdiagnosed with type 2 diabetes for eight years and was finally given the correct diagnosis—Latent Autoimmune Diabetes in Adults, a form of type 1 diabetes.
Phyllisa has graced the cover of Health Monitor magazine and was featured in Diabetic Living, Diabetes Focus, and other magazines and newsletters. Her passion for diabetes lifestyle advocacy can be seen in her YouTube vlogs, social media posts, in-person workshops, published essays, and keynote speeches that she has given in five countries. She enjoys traveling and writing. Her recent publications include The Daily News Blues (A flash fiction story highlighting the intersectionality of COVID-19, mental health, and diabetes) and Laughing to Keep from Dying: Black Americans with Diabetes in Sitcoms and Comedies (A book chapter that merges theories in Disability Studies and American Humor).
Considered one of the most prolific writers on the representation of diabetes in African American literature and popular culture, Phyllisa builds community through storytelling by drawing on a Ph.D. in English Literature from Pennsylvania State University, a ten year career as a university professor, her Fulbright Scholar expertise, and her own experiences living with diabetes. In 2021, she returned home to South Florida with her husband and daughter after living abroad in the United Arab Emirates and Martinique for seven years. Her motto "Diagnosed Not Defeated" is an inspiration for all.
Instagram: @BlackDiabeticInfo Twitter: @not_defeated Blog: @DiagnosedNotDefeated.com