Today’s Faces of Sickle Cell Disease
September is Sickle Cell Awareness Month. Throughout the month, the NHLBI will share real stories of strength and perseverance. The stories will highlight people living with sickle cell disease, their loved ones, clinicians, and the researchers whose work offers hope for a cure. Read their stories below.
Hematologist, Sickle Cell Disease Researcher, University of Abuja, Abuja, Nigeria Her Story: Ten years ago, Obiageli Nnodu, M.D., had an established career as a...
Sickle cell disease researcher, officer with the U.S. Public Health Service Her story: Iman Martin is a Genetic Epidemiologist and Program Director in the...
Sickle cell patient, parent, software professional, volunteer His story: Michael Loiacono, 32, is quick to admit that he is not the typical person with sickle...
Survivor, father, volunteer for Sickle Cell Disease Association of America -Mobile Chapter, Inc. His story: Lynndrick Holmes, 29, was diagnosed with sickle cell...
Cassandra Trimnell, patient advocate, Sickle Cell 101 Executive Director Her story: When Cassandra Trimnell was born in 1987, she was the first child diagnosed...
Adrienne Shapiro, patient advocate, co-founder of the Axis Advocacy SCD Her story: L ike the three previous generations of mothers in her family, Adrienne...
Beverley Francis-Gibson, President & CEO of the Sickle Cell Disease Association of America (SCDAA) Her story: Beverley Francis-Gibson knows about the pain of...
Patient advocate, camp counselor, volunteer for Sickle Cell Association of Texas Marc Thomas Foundation Her story: Mercy Mendoza was born in Honduras, and for...
Health care educator, patient advocate, minister, president and co-founder of the Sickle Cell Association of Texas Marc Thomas Foundation Her story: In 1997...
Pediatrician, advocate, CEO and medical director for the Sickle Cell Disease Association of America (Michigan chapter) Her story: Wanda Whitten-Shurney has a...
Psychologist, patient advocate, founder and executive director of Cayenne Wellness Center and Children’s Foundation Her story: From a young age, Carolyn Rowley...
Professor at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, head of the hematology section at the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago...