Inspire is an Arlington, Virginia-based healthcare social network. It builds and manages online health communities for patients and caregivers, and connects patients to life science companies for the purpose of research. Overview Founded in 2005, the company serves millions of patients and caregivers in several hundred online support groups. As of the end of 2020, Inspire had more than two million registered members. These online groups are mostly organized around a single condition, such as psoriasis, ovarian cancer, or lung cancer. Online health communities like Inspire are referenced as components of the empowered patient, or e-patient movement. History Brian Loew founded Inspire. It was first known as ClinicaHealth until March 2008. In 2022, the Inspire community had over 2.5 million registered members, more than 40% of whom are affected by cancer. Inspire had about 80,000 members in 2008. Early employees include Amir Lewkowicz, Walter Wlodarczyk, Beth McNaughton, and contributors Nate Shue and David Marshall. Partnerships with nonprofit advocacy organizations Inspire partners with multiple nonprofit patient advocacy organizations, such as the Bladder Cancer Advocacy Network, National Osteoporosis Foundation, American Lung Association, Ovarian Cancer Research Alliance, Genetic Alliance, Kidney Cancer Association, Scleroderma Foundation, Alzheimer's Foundation of America, Tuberous Sclerosis Alliance, Men's Health Network, WomenHeart: The National Coalition for Women with Heart Disease, ThyCa: Thyroid Cancer Survivors' Association, American Liver Foundation, Lupus Foundation of America, Encephalitis Global, Neurofibromatosis Network, American Sexual Health Association, Ehlers-Danlos Society, and the ALS Association to provide online communities for the nonprofit organizations. Products and services Inspire generates company revenue from market research and promotional services to pharmaceutical companies. Inspire's market research services include online surveys, user-generated content analysis, and moderated online private research communities. Examples of promotional projects that Inspire would provide on behalf of a pharmaceutical client include branded or unbranded banner ads that Inspire serves in its online communities and the delivery of targeted, permission-based emails to community members. Research projects Healthcare companies and institutions have worked with Inspire on research projects that focus on rare disease populations or populations of patients who have advanced disease, such as metastatic lung cancer. In October 2020, Precision Oncology News, a publication owned by GenomeWeb, detailed a research project involving Inspire, Pfizer and Boston Children's Hospital. The article stated how Stefan McDonough, executive director of genetics at Pfizer, described the Inspire platform as "an extraordinary resource" because patients are already appropriately consented and are eager to share their medical