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.
Manager, Community Engagement, American Society of Hematology Research Collaborative Her story: When Shauna Whisenton, 42, received a bone marrow transplant...
Sickle cell researcher, technology developer, and professor at Case Western Reserve University His story: Umut Gurkan, Ph.D., a biomedical engineering professor...
Professor at the University of Cape Town, South Africa His story: Born in Yaoundé, Cameroon, Ambroise Wonkam, M.D., Ph.D., grew up witnessing the pain...
Music producer, entrepreneur, study volunteer His story: Doctors diagnosed Chad Williams with sickle cell disease at age 3, and the memories of the grueling...
Blood donation and patient advocate, sickle cell survivor Her story: When she was 3 years old and still living in Central Africa, in Gabon, doctors diagnosed...
Clevetta Drew, NIH gene therapy trial participant Her story: Clevetta Drew, age 41, was diagnosed with sickle cell anemia at 18 months old and throughout her...
Director of WBPR Agency, and stem cell transplant patient Her story: Wunmi Bakare was 18 months old when her pediatrician, Dorothy Esangbedo, M.D., diagnosed...
Patient, director of the Sickle Cell Community Consortium, research scientist Her story: At age 5, Lakiea Bailey experienced the first sickle cell crisis that...
Lawyer, sickle cell patient, COVID-19 survivor Her story: Natalie Jean-Baptiste, 42, has lived with sickle cell disease her entire life and has forged a...
Blood researcher, branch chief, Division of Blood Diseases and Resources, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Her Story: Traci Mondoro, Ph.D., serves as...
Imagine having sharp, tingling pain running throughout the tiny blood vessels in your bones. What if you couldn’t stop it? What if prescriptions, such as...
Research pioneer, patient advocate, broadcast professional His story: Rodrick Murray was 3 months old when he was diagnosed with sickle cell disease (SCD). This...