John Poma – Tidewater Physicians Multispecialty Group

John Poma built his legal career around healthcare, compliance, and patient protection, but his life’s most important work began after his own diagnosis. Today, as chief legal counsel for Tidewater Physicians Multispecialty Group and a national advocate with the Parkinson’s Foundation, Poma operates at the intersection of law, medicine, and lived experience. His mission has expanded beyond legal strategy into something more personal and more urgent. He is working to change how people understand Parkinson’s disease, how patients and caregivers are supported, and how research and policy can accelerate better outcomes.

John Poma | Tidewater Physicians Multispecialty Group | Chief Legal Counsel

Tidewater Physicians Multispecialty Group is one of the largest independent physician-owned medical groups in the Mid-Atlantic, providing coordinated, patient-centered care across dozens of specialties and locations. That patient-first philosophy has shaped Poma’s legal approach for years and now informs his advocacy work just as strongly.

“This has become my life’s work,” Poma says.

Early perspective & legal foundation

Poma spent his career immersed in healthcare systems, regulation, and clinical operations. He handled hundreds of clinical research agreements and complex healthcare matters, building a detailed understanding of how medicine, policy, and law interact. That background now gives him unusual fluency as both a patient and a professional inside the system.

He chose law for impact. His work consistently focused on access, equity, and improved outcomes. That same orientation defines how he approaches Parkinson’s advocacy today.

“I always knew that I wanted to go to law school, but it was less about the title of being a lawyer and more about wanting to make a difference,” he says.

Following a diagnosis of REM Sleep Behavior Disorder (RBD) and then Parkinson’s disease, Poma made a deliberate decision with his wife, who is his biggest supporter, about how he would respond. He refused to let the condition define him. Instead, he converted uncertainty into action through education, mentorship, and policy engagement.

His dual perspective allows him to translate medical complexity into practical choices and to explain legal and policy risks that many patients overlook, especially those related to genetic data. He emphasizes that knowledge reduces fear and increases agency.

“There is no cure yet, but there are things you can do right now to manage the disease and improve your quality of life,” he says.

National advocacy & research engagement

At the national level, Poma serves on the Parkinson’s Foundation People with Parkinson’s Advisory Council, helping guide priorities and patient education strategies to improve the lives of people living with Parkinson’s disease. He also contributes to multiple research and policy initiatives that connect patient voices with scientific direction.

He works with the Planning for Prevention of Parkinson’s program at Mass General Brigham, supports the Parkinson’s Foundation genetic study PDGENEration, contributes to sleep policy through the American Board of Internal Medicine Sleep Advisory Committee, and serves on the North American Prodromal Synucleinopathy (NAPS) Community Engagement Board in addition to being a research participant himself in NAPS to further understanding of neurodegenerative diseases like RBD and Parkinson’s. Prevention, early detection, and patient-reported outcomes are recurring themes in his work.

Research participation is one of his strongest calls to action. He urges patients and families to view studies and registries such as NAPS as practical tools for progress.

“By being involved in research, you create a ripple effect that moves us closer to better treatments and ultimately a cure,” he says.

He highlights genetic testing as another lever, while also warning that genetic data requires careful legal safeguards. Only a small percentage of Parkinson’s cases currently map to known markers, but expanding datasets accelerate discovery. He advocates for greater participation alongside stronger privacy protections.

Education and engagement, in his view, are as important as funding. He always directs people to the Parkinson’s Foundation Helpline, counseling resources, and Centers of Excellence, noting that access to support has improved significantly in recent years.

Regional leadership & community building

Regionally, Poma serves as president and Chair of Mission and Outreach of the Parkinson’s Foundation Mid-Atlantic Chapter. In this role, he led the effort to bring Moving Day, the Foundation’s signature awareness and fundraising event, to Richmond for the first time. The event now gathers patients, caregivers, clinicians, and supporters and has raised more than $200,000 for research, education, and community grants.

Moving Day centers on motion and connection. Participants walk, learn, and build networks that often continue long after the event ends. Poma stresses that these gatherings are especially important for caregivers, who often carry heavy and unseen burdens.

“Parkinson’s impacts families and caregivers just as much as patients, and they need support and community too,” he says.

He also supports the Virginia Memory Project, a statewide dementia registry that advances research and care coordination. His involvement reflects a broader interest in neurodegenerative disease policy and longitudinal data that can inform earlier interventions.

Public speaking is another part of his advocacy. He is scheduled to speak at the World Parkinson Congress and related prevention conferences, where he shares both technical insight and personal experience. He believes lived experience is a form of expertise that must inform research priorities.

“There is not a week that goes by that I don’t talk with someone who was recently diagnosed,” he says.

Local programs & a personal mission

At the local level, one of Poma’s strongest commitments is LiftPD, an evidence-based functional exercise program developed by a doctor of physical therapy at Virginia Commonwealth University. The program provides no-cost exercise and mobility training for people living with Parkinson’s while also building peer and caregiver networks.

Exercise plays a central role in Parkinson’s management, and Poma treats it as essential. His schedule is structured around training, therapy, and prevention strategies designed to slow progression and maintain function.

“My physical therapist is an integral part of my care team who motivates me and reminds me that I sometimes just need to give myself grace,” he says

LiftPD depends heavily on grants and community support, and Poma actively advocates for expanded funding. Programs like it demonstrate how local initiatives can deliver measurable impact alongside national research efforts.

Across every level of involvement, his message remains consistent. Volunteer for research. Consider genetic testing with informed guidance. Push for strong legal protections around health and genetic data. Share your story. Support caregivers. Stay physically active. Remain positive. Don’t give up.

He frequently repeats a guiding principle for his outreach work.

“Helping one person may not change the world, but it may change the world for that one person,” he says.

Poma measures success in individual impact and forward momentum. He points to rapid advances in medication and treatment pathways as proof that progress is real. He is quick to credit his care teams at VCU Health Parkinson’s and Movement Disorders Center for their exceptional care and steady support, and the physicians at TPMG for modeling the patient-first values that shape his advocacy.

He does not minimize the difficulty of Parkinson’s. Instead, he emphasizes empowerment, community, and contribution. He wants to be remembered not for having the disease, but for expanding what he did because of it.

“When all is said and done, I don’t want to be defined by Parkinson’s. I want to be defined by how I made a difference,” he says.

That difference continues through law, research, and human connection, one patient and one conversation at a time.