Patient Insights Board Member
Phyllisa Deroze is a global diabetes advocate and the Director of Community at dQ&A. Shortly after earning a PhD in English Literature and landing her dream job as a university professor, Phyllisa fell seriously ill. After fainting in her bathtub, she was hospitalized for a week and diagnosed with type 2 diabetes on February 15, 2011. She began blogging about her experience from her hospital bed.
A year later, Phyllisa founded Black Diabetic Info, a website aimed at raising awareness of culturally competent diabetes information, particularly from the African Diaspora. In 2019, she experienced the potentially fatal condition, diabetes ketoacidosis (DKA), again. Phyllisa learned she had been misdiagnosed with type 2 diabetes for eight years. She was finally correctly diagnosed with Latent Autoimmune Diabetes in Adults (LADA), a form of type 1 diabetes.
Phyllisa’s advocacy work has garnered significant attention, with features on the cover of Health Monitor magazine and in Diabetic Living, Diabetes Focus, and other publications. Her passion for diabetes advocacy is reflected in her YouTube vlogs, social media posts, in-person workshops, published essays, and keynote speeches in five countries. She enjoys traveling and writing. Her recent publications include Diabetes Helpers, a children’s book she co-authored with her daughter, The Daily News Blues, a flash fiction story exploring the intersection of COVID-19, mental health, and diabetes, and Laughing to Keep from Dying: Black Americans with Diabetes in Sitcoms and Comedies, a book chapter blending Disability Studies and American humor. For the past four years, she has hosted D-Talk, the podcast for the International Diabetes Federation. She and her daughter jointly wrote Diabetes Helpers, the first children’s book to help adults talk about their diabetes with the children in their lives.
Considered one of the leading voices on the representation of diabetes in African American literature and popular culture, Phyllisa builds community through storytelling. She draws on her PhD in English Literature from Pennsylvania State University, her ten years as a university professor, her experience as a Fulbright Scholar in the United Arab Emirates, and her journey with diabetes. Her motto, “Diagnosed Not Defeated,” serves as an inspiration to others facing similar challenges.
Instagram: @BlackDiabeticInfo   Blog: DiagnosedNotDefeated.com