Lene Andersen is a writer and photographer living in Toronto, Canada. She is the Community Leader for HealthCentral's RA Community.

Lene - pronounced Lena - was born and raised in Denmark.  She has had rheumatoid arthritis since she was four years old and spent much of her childhood in and out of hospitals. 

After moving to Canada in the early 1980s, Lene spent the decade of big hair going to school a lot, eventually emerging with a Master's degree in social work and a desire to change the world.  She has worked in the healthcare field, corrections and human rights and equal opportunity, where she specialized in disability and accessibility issues.  Lene has also volunteered with The Arthritis Society and served on the boards of directors of disability and legal advocacy groups, as well as tenant and community councils.

After a serious flare in 2004, Lene started Enbrel and believes it gave her a second chance at life.  When faced with the question of what to do for the rest of that life, Lene chose to pursue her childhood dream of becoming a writer.  She has written for The Desert Woman, received runner-up in a memoir contest by the Canadian magazine Homemakers and was awarded the 2007 Larry Turner Award for Non-Fiction. 

Lene also writes a blog called The Seated View, on which she posts writing and photography. The Seated View has twice been voted first place in the Canadian Blog Awards - the 2008 Best Disability Blog and the 2010 Best Chronic Illness Blog. Lene's blog is also nominated in the Health and Wellness catagory of the 2010 and 2011 Canadian Weblog Awards.

You can follow Lene on Twitter @TheSeatedView and join her on Facebook.