Associates

Yassie Pirani, is a Registered Clinical Counsellor and a Registered Social Worker. Much of her clinical practice and research focuses on Post SSRI Sexual Dysfunction (PSSD), and she is dedicated to supporting PSSD sufferers and their families as they navigate the impact of this condition. Yassie helps individuals come to terms with what has happened to their bodies and to find ways to channel their loss into positive action. Yassie is on the leadership team of the Canadian PSSD Society and is actively engaged in the SHAPE Hub project with UBC, a pan-Canadian initiative aimed at improving healthcare outcomes through research & knowledge mobilization. Her work with the PSSD community positions her uniquely to educate healthcare professionals and the public about the impacts of this disabling condition. Yassie is passionate about raising awareness of PSSD so that the public and medical professionals can be better informed.

Yassie became an official associate of INIDA at the end of march 2025. Outside of her own incredible work and contributions in this space, 

she has offered us great help with proofreading our document as well as promoting our work. 

We are so grateful for having her as part of the team, and look forward to our collaboration going forward. 

Dr. Risto O. Roine (MD, PHD) is a professor of neurology and was previously the Chairman of Clinical Neurosciences at the University of Turku and Turku University Hospital in Finland. 

In his practice he has gained extensive knowledge and experience of working with PSSD and Long Covid patients, with a particular expertise on Long Covid and GPCR autoantibodies (he was previously the Chair of the national Covid expert committee in Finland). 

Over the recent years prior to his retirement he has seen and treated dozens of PSSD patients. Through his experience with diagnostics and treatment outcomes, he has openly suspected that PSSD could be (at least in part) an immunological disorder, and has publicly stated that more research on this area is needed. 

We have been speaking with Roine for the past 2 years and have gained great insight into the potential role of immune dysregulation, GPCR autoantibodies and dysautonomia in PSSD. 

He is currently acting as a consultant for us and has been taking part in meetings with Dr. Cunningham and Dr. Menendez regarding our upcoming study. 

We are thrilled to have him as an official associate of INIDA and are deeply grateful for his commitment to helping PSSD patients, as well as his help and insights on trying to uncover this condition (PSSD)!

*Dr. Roine may be contacted by email for any inquiries: ristoroine@gmail.com