Who We Are

Emily holds a BA in Psychology from William & Mary and an MA in Teaching from NYU. She taught classroom English until developing a chronic illness that led her to transition to a career working from home in finance. Emily was diagnosed with POTS in 2015 and has since become an advocate for others battling chronic health issues. She founded the initial Pasadena POTS support group in 2018 that developed into LADN. In her free time, Emily enjoys working as a freelance painter and has used art to help her cope with symptoms. Emily is the illustrator and author of The Healing Journal: Guided Prompts and Inspiration for Life With Illness. Her work can be viewed at emilysunez.com.

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Sally Krueger-Wyman holds a BA in English from Arizona State University. Sally puts her twenty+ years of personal experience with dysautonomia and its many co-morbidities to use in her work with LADN. She is grateful for the strides the dysautonomia community has made in her lifetime and is excited to be a part of a community working towards a more complete and effective understanding of this illness. In addition to her role at LADN, Sally has published her writing in multiple journals and magazines, which can be viewed at www.sallykw.com. Much of her writing deals with the chronic illness experience. Sally is the lead writer for the climate change education nonprofit, Earthshot.

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Barbara “Barbie” Faze was born and raised in Pasadena, CA, and is proud to be a Native Angeleno. After a 15 year career in banking operations she “retired” in 1994 to the beloved profession of full time motherhood, and considers her two kids her greatest accomplishments. Barbie had never even heard of Dysautonomia until she became a determined investigator into the source of her child’s debilitating symptoms in 2013, which, at the time, seemed to be a total mystery for many medical practitioners. This frustration ultimately evolved into empathetic advocacy for the dysautonomia community at large, including for the doctors working against all odds to support this patient population, and so she is honored to serve on the founding Board of Directors for LADN. Barbie has held a CA RE license for over 20 years, and recently returned full time to Real Estate sales, working for Rodeo Realty in Pacific Palisades. In her free time, Barbie loves spending time with family and traveling throughout Europe with her husband Michael.

Tobi Harper Petrie is Deputy Director of Red Hen Press, Founder and Editor of Quill, Publisher of The Los Angeles Review, and Instructor in the UCLA Extension Writers’ Program for Publishing and Editing.

Danielle Hinde started her career as a music video dancer, where she began a long-standing love affair with music videos. Today she operates her own company, Doomsday Entertainment, serving as both Executive Producer and Director's Rep to filmmakers.In her 25 year career, she has overseen groundbreaking and award-winning videos for Marvin Gaye, Childish Gambino, Tribe Called Quest, Katy Perry, Juanes, Earl Sweatshirt, One Republic, White Stripes, Die Antwoord, J Lo and hundreds more. Doomsday has also produced the Grammy winning feature film "Nine Types of Light" for TV On the Radio, and other short films including "Clapping for the Wrong Reasons" starring/written by Donald Glover.
Most recently, Doomsday won Best Music Video at the 2019 Grammys for Childish Gambino's "This Is America", directed by Hiro Murai and Best Music Video at Latin Grammy’s in both 2018 and 2022 for Juanes and Residente’s music videos, while also being Grammy nominated for Gary Clark Jr music video. Other awards include several Golds at Clio, Ciclope, Grand Prix at Cannes Lions in 2019/2022, as well as several MTV VMAs and Best Video at SXSW, etc. She was also a professor at USC for Film Production and three time Ironwoman. She served as Jury President at Cannes Lions in 2023 and Head Judge for shots Awards in 2024. She was diagnosed with POTS in 2019 after decades of battling chronic illnesses. She is currently directing and producing a documentary titled “The Long Haul” about Long Covid and its direct relationship with POTS/Dysautonomia.

Nancee is the lead dietitian for the UCLA Vatche and Tamar Manoukian Division of Digestive Diseases. Nancee was recruited in 2012 to help develop a comprehensive GI nutrition program to enhance care for patients with specific nutritional issues and to provide ongoing nutritional education to UCLA GI fellows, gastroenterologists and other health care professionals. The GI nutrition program is now an integral part of the division’s Integrative Digestive Health and Wellness Program and the Robert G. Kardashian Center for Esophageal Health.

In addition to her lead role, Nancee continues her clinical nutrition practice, counseling patients on diagnoses such as irritable bowel syndrome, inflammatory bowel disease, celiac disease, short bowel syndrome and idiopathic or functional bowel disorders. Nancee shares her expertise on nutrition and digestive disorders by speaking at national conferences. Her current research includes the reintroduction phase of the low FODMAP diet and the Mediterranean diet’s effects on the gut microbiome in IBS with Lin Chang, MD, co-director of the UCLA G. Oppenheimer Center for Neurobiology of Stress and Resilience. Nancee is also researching different types of diets and their potential effects on remission and flare states in IBD with Berkeley Limketkai, MD, PhD, director of clinical research for the Center for Inflammatory Bowel Diseases. Nancee spearheaded an effort to formalize a GI-specific dietitian group housed jointly under the American Gastroenterological Association and the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics which became official in 2020.

Nancee graduated from California State University, Los Angeles, where she earned her masters of science in nutrition. She completed her dietetic internship at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and at the University of California, Los Angeles, where she was mentored by Dr. Chang.

Michael Osborn was born in Phoenix, AZ in 1954. He lived there until he was 12 and moved to Arcadia, CA. He graduated from Pasadena’a Blair High School in 1972. That same year he began working as a cook at Pie ‘N Burger in Pasadena. He attended The University of Southern California graduating in 1976 with a degree in English. He loved working at Pie ‘N Burger thru his college years and reached an agreement to begin buying into the business. His partners retired in 1985, the same year he married his wife, Jane. He continued to grow the business by adding outside catering and eventually a food truck. The business, which started in 1963, continues to thrive, and has numerous best burger awards both locally and nationally.

Michael and Jane have three children, all of whom attended St Philip the Apostle School. Michael served on the school board there, as well as a co-chair of a major capital campaign for the parish. He is a past chairman of the California Restaurant Association and is currently on the board of the National Restaurant Association.

A native Californian, Dante embraced Los Angeles in 2011 while attending Claremont McKenna College, where he graduated magna cum laude & Phi Beta Kappa in 2015. Dante developed nervous system complications in 2017 shortly after starting his career in finance, and considers himself lucky to have only waited 10 months for a dysautonomia diagnosis. After beginning his rollercoaster of a chronic illness journey, Dante found heartwarming community within LADN that inspired him to become more involved in dysautonomia advocacy at the local level and beyond.

Dante works full time as an investor for Oaktree Capital Management, serving on numerous private and public company boards across industries. In his spare time he can occasionally be found reliving his past hobby dancing west coast swing (when able). Elsewhere in dysautonomia advocacy, Dante serves on the Metrodora Foundation's Community Advisory Board.

Brianne is the co-owner of Body Synergy Physical Therapy and Wellness in Pasadena, California. She holds a doctorate in physical therapy from Loma Linda University and has over 15 years of experience in the outpatient orthopedic and neurological setting. She has a special interest in working to maximize the quality of life for clients living with various chronic health conditions. Her personal experience of navigating a juvenile-onset medical condition, combined with what she has learned from her inspiring clients over the years, has fueled her passion for supporting and empowering her clients to advocate for their healthcare needs, as well as improving access to quality care for all. In her free time she enjoys trying new restaurants, exploring new places and attending music, dance and other performing arts events.

Lindsey is an attorney who lives with her husband and three daughters in San Marino. She began her legal career as a transactional attorney in the Century City office of the global law firm DLA Piper, where she practiced for several years. Lindsey left DLA to work in house conducting mergers and acquisitions for the publicly traded entertainment company Live Nation, where she worked until July 2022. In addition to her legal practice, Lindsey has authored three children’s books, has served on the board of her children’s preschool, and has been actively involved in local charities, including Circle of Friends and Children's Chain of Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.

Dr. Lori J. Wynstock is an internist in Pasadena, California and is affiliated with multiple hospitals in the area, including Casa Colina Hospital and Huntington Hospital. She received her medical degree from University of Southern California School of Medicine and has been in practice for more than 20 years.

Frank is a three time Emmy award-winning videographer and teacher. He holds a BA in Film & Digital Media from UC Santa Cruz. Frank has 15 years of experience working in live sports production with networks including Fox Sports, CBS, and ESPN. He holds a California CTE (career technical education) teaching credential and has worked as a full-time video production teacher at Arcadia High School for the past ten years. As a spouse of a dysautonomia warrior, he has witnessed firsthand the difficulties that a POTS diagnosis brings and is eager to help support the dysautonomia community through LADN.