Los Angeles, CA (October 19, 2022) – The Celiac Disease Foundation, the nation’s leading patient advocacy organization for celiac disease, today is proud to announce its newest appointee, William Thurston, to its Board of Directors.
William’s desire to join the Celiac Disease Foundation Board was motivated by his personal experience. Both William and his partner have lived with celiac disease for nearly 15 years. William was only diagnosed this year – more than a decade after first seeking answers – and only after his daughter tested positive for elevated antibodies during a routine screening for a related medical issue. The dots connected for William, he asked for the right tests, and after more than a decade of distress was finally given a diagnosis for celiac disease.
While William’s daughter did not end up with a celiac disease diagnosis, he wants to ensure that there are proper diagnostic tools and a treatment path waiting for her should that change. He sees the work that the Celiac Disease Foundation supports as the most likely path to both those outcomes – not just for his daughter, but for the millions of other people affected by celiac disease.
“After 15 years of living with undiagnosed celiac disease, I am excited to help the Celiac Disease Foundation improve diagnosis and treatment for the millions of others also affected by this disease,” William said.
William works at Google providing technical leadership to engineers responsible for the reliability of systems keeping your favorite Google products running 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Prior to joining Google, William worked at Facebook, Netflix, and Amazon where he built parts of “the cloud.” William and his partner live together in the heart of Silicon Valley with two daughters, three dogs, and four cats.
Biographies of the Celiac Disease Foundation Board of Directors can be found here.
About the Celiac Disease Foundation
The Celiac Disease Foundation is the nation’s leading patient advocacy organization for celiac disease. Since its founding in 1990, the Celiac Disease Foundation continues to champion many battles: federal funding for celiac disease research and labeling standards for gluten-free foods, widespread patient and provider education, access to mainstream gluten-free products, improved diagnostic tools, and accelerated development of therapeutic treatments and a cure. For more information, visit celiac.org.