Karen Solomon Edwards is currently participating in a PCORI-funded research study with Wayne State University Cancer Action Council, and has begun to take the PCORI online research training. Edwards is a kidney transplant recipient and serves as a regional leader volunteer with the National Kidney Foundation, an Ambassador with the American Association of Kidney Patients, and an Ambassador with the Polycystic Kidney Disease Foundation. She is a retired public health official with the City of Detroit and served as the manager of maternal and child health programs, including school health, clinical services, vision and hearing, and accreditation programs, among others. A focal motivator for Edwards is having Polycystic Kidney Disease and kidney failure, and her experiences as both a home and in-centered dialysis patient. She has been impacted by the healthcare system and has encountered a plethora of health challenges. To that end, her goal is to serve as a patient-centered representative to advance health care, assurance, and policy development of public health. Thus, Edwards returned to college to complete her studies in Public Policy and Administration and is currently working on her dissertation. As a role model for other patients, she desires to serve as an example that patients can pivot, persist, persevere, and live a normal quality of life.