Stay empowered & stay informed.

Shannon Coates, the founder of Patient Connect, patient advocate, mother, caregiver and a rare patient myself. 

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My 20 years of work in research didn’t begin as a career, it began as a necessity.

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At 14, I became a caregiver to my single mother during her battle with breast cancer in Canada. Years later, after navigating two countries, four states, and over 100 physicians, I was diagnosed with several rare autoimmune condition (AxSpA, SLE, PsA, IBD, Raynaud's and more). Shortly after, I lost my father to rare small cell lung cancer just three months after diagnosis, and both of my uncles to the same disease (NSCLC).

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These experiences shaped how I see healthcare, advocacy, and the urgency behind every patient decision.

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I understand what it means to sit on both sides, as a caregiver navigating a fragmented system, and as a patient searching for answers, stability, and better options. I learned early that healthcare is not a one-stop solution, it takes a coordinated, trusted network.

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That realization is what led me to become the bridge.

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Today, that perspective drives everything I do, for my family, my children, and the communities I serve.

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Through Patient Connect, I bridge that gap.

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I partner with research sponsors, medical market research, pharma, CROs, and clinical sites to bring real patient insight into research design, recruitment, and execution, helping studies move faster, perform better, and ultimately succeed. At the same time, I support patients in accessing medical market research, clinical trials that may offer new possibilities.

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My approach goes beyond traditional recruitment. It’s built on intuition, trust, advocacy, and long-standing relationships within patient communities, especially in rare and complex conditions where success requires far more than a database or ad campaign. In the rare communities, it takes a village and support of the community to succeed. 

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I believe patients should be empowered, informed, and supported throughout their journey, not treated as numbers in a system. Whether I’m helping a sponsor de-risk a study or guiding a patient toward a new opportunity, the mission is the same:

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Connect the right patient to the right opportunity, at the right time.

Because behind every study is a person waiting for a better quality of life.

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And I don’t stop until we get there.