Your Creative Perk · Case Study
VEXAS Foundation:Turning Awareness Into Action.
A full website redesign for a rare disease nonprofit, plus a custom plugin that keeps NIH news and active clinical trials current on the site every day.
VEXAS syndrome is a rare autoinflammatory disease that was only identified in 2020. Many people go years without a diagnosis. When someone finally gets one, they often go straight to the internet looking for answers. The VEXAS Foundation's website needed to be ready for that moment.
The VEXAS Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit focused on supporting patients and advancing research. Its website serves a lot of different people at once: patients who were just diagnosed, caregivers and families, researchers and physicians, donors, and sponsors. This project was about giving each of them a clear place to start.
From a mission statement to a clear path
The original homepage led with a short headline and a paragraph about the Foundation's goals. The information was there, but a visitor had to work to find what they needed next.
The redesign leads with what the Foundation does: Supporting patients. Advancing research. Changing the future of VEXAS. Right below, visitors choose their path. "I was just diagnosed" takes patients to the essentials. "Support our research" takes donors and partners where they can help. "Learn about VEXAS" opens the education section.
Built around people, not pages
The new homepage walks visitors through the full story of VEXAS, one section at a time:
- A patient spotlight, so the first voice visitors hear is someone living with VEXAS
- A plain language VEXAS 101 explaining what it is, who it affects, and how it is confirmed
- The scale of VEXAS, presented as simple, readable stats
- The Foundation's research programs and grant program
- The board and the people behind the Foundation
- News and research highlights, a newsletter signup, and donation options
- Supporting sponsors and a link to the patient and caregiver support community
Throughout the site, I kept the Foundation's blue and teal identity and gave it more depth, more breathing room, and a clearer hierarchy. The result feels credible enough for researchers and warm enough for families.
A news feed that updates itself
Research on VEXAS is moving quickly, and the Foundation wanted the site to reflect that without someone copying and pasting updates by hand. They also wanted to avoid paying for a premium plugin that only did half the job.
So I built a custom WordPress plugin. Every day, it checks NIH news releases for anything that mentions VEXAS and pulls active studies from ClinicalTrials.gov. Each clinical trial shows its recruitment status, sponsor, phase, and location, with the source and the last updated date clearly labeled.
For families looking for a trial, or researchers checking what is underway, it means the information on the site is always the latest available from the source.
“You’re incredibly talented! I know how little information I gave you to start with and how awesome the very first draft was… And it just kept getting more awesome. You thought of things I hadn’t even asked you for, found stuff I didn’t even know was there like Candid, and pulled it all together with such creativity and ease… plus you were so patient with very long periods of no activity or contact from me! Thank you for making me look so good to the board!”
Why this one matters to me
Most of my work helps a business grow. This one helps people find answers about a disease most doctors are still learning about. Getting the structure right, getting the language plain, and making sure the research stays current all add up to something real for the people who land on this site.