Sneha Dave of Greenwood, an Indiana University junior who advocates for youth living with chronic illness, has been honored with the 2018 ISMA Patient Health Advocate Award.

The award was presented Sept. 30 at the 169th Annual ISMA Convention by ISMA Past-President John P. McGoff, MD. It recognizes a non-physician who has contributed greatly to the health and well-being of Hoosier patients.

Dave, who was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis at age 6, started the nonprofit Crohn’s and Colitis Teen Times to connect young people living with those conditions. She also established a Riley Dance Marathon fundraiser at Center Grove High School, speaks at events to raise pediatric research funds and blogs about chronic illness for U.S. News and World Report and the United Nations.

“As a father and a physician, it was difficult to watch Sneha struggle through relentlessly progressive ulcerative colitis,” wrote Sachin Dave, MD, in nominating his daughter for the award. “She could barely take the stairs up to her room in the house, let alone go to school full time. In spite of this, she kept herself strong and excelled while attending partial schooling until her complete colectomy at age 14.”

“Nothing was going to stop Sneha from making a difference,” he added.

Sneha Dave’s most recent project is the daylong Health Advocacy Summit, which she co-founded to empower young Hoosiers with chronic conditions through leadership training and networking.

The second Indianapolis summit will take place Nov. 3, and others are planned in Texas and North Carolina. For program information and to sign up, visit www.healthadvocacysummit.org.