André Marcel Harris is committed to working in public health arena to improve quality of care for those who suffer with Sickle Cell Disease. André is pursuing his bachelor’s degree in Social work from Fayetteville State University. He serves as a patient advocate, sickle cell counselor and educator, and a community health worker at Sickle Cell Disease Association of America, Inc. Presently, André serves as community manager at RareLife solutions. André’s is a member of National Association of Social Workers, Sickle Cell Community Consortium and American Public Health Association. He also is the founder of Black Men's Health (a social media support group). He has also served as a community expert at Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation, Los Angeles and Sickle Cell Coalition, Baltimore. André Marcel is passionate about patient education and his research interest focuses on the Barriers to Healthcare, Social Determinants of Health and the impact of socioeconomic issues on the overall healthcare of patients and how to eliminate the stigma patients face with Sickle Cell Disease. Online profile

Naomi Moore is a sickle cell educator at North Carolina Sickle Cell Syndrome Program. Online profile

Elizabeth White is a young adult sickle cell advisor at Kids Conquering Sickle Cell Disease Foundation. She is also a sickle cell warrior and national sickle cell advocate. Online profile

Azizi Coleman is the Clinical Research Project Manager at PCORI Sickle Cell - Levine Cancer Institute. She also served as the program director at Piedmont Health Services & Sickle cell Agency, Inc. She is a consultant and advocate for those facing health equity/social justice issues, and have a passion for those affected by sickle cell disease. Online profile

Marjorie DeJoie-Brewer, MD, is a medical director of the Sickle Cell Disease Association of America, Philadelphia/Delaware Valley Chapter. She is also a research liaison for hydroxyurea education at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Dr. DeJoie-Brewer found out that she had SCD when she was a second year student in medical school at the University of Pennsylvania. She wears three hats in service to the SCD cause: medical director for her local SCD association, research clinician at Children’s Hospital, and owner of her own private wellness practice. Online profile

Dr. Emily Riehm Meier is a pediatric hematologist-oncologist in Indianapolis, Indiana. She is the Co-Director of Indiana’s Sickle SAFE Program at the Indiana Hemophilia & Thrombosis Center. Dr. Meier is affiliated with Peyton Manning Children's Hospital and St. Vincent Women's Hospital in Indianapolis, IN. Dr. Meier directs Indiana’s hemoglobinopathy newborn screening follow-up program and has funding from the Indiana State Department of Health for the SCORE program which focuses on care coordination, outreach, and education of children and adolescents living with sickle cell disease and their families around Indiana. Dr. Meier is an active member of the American Society of Hematology, the American Society of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the Sickle Transplant Alliance for Research. Dr. Meier attended medical school at the Indiana University School of Medicine and completed her Pediatric Residency, Chief Residency, and Hematology/Oncology Fellowship at Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, DC. As the director of the sickle cell program at Children’s National, Dr. Meier implemented a group clinic visit model for newly diagnosed infants and their families as well as educational conferences for families and patients living with sickle cell disease to learn more about bone marrow transplant as a curative option. Dr. Meier has over 15 years of experience in caring for infants, children, and adolescents with sickle cell disease and other benign hematologic disorders. Dr. Meier has a special interest in sickle cell disease and other benign hematologic disorders. She has co-authored over 35 peer reviewed papers in journals including The New England Journal of Medicine and American Journal of Hematology. Online profile

Nkechikwu Azinge is the founder of the Sickle Cell Aid Foundation (SCAF), an NGO she established with a group of young persons determined to raise awareness of Sickle Cell Disorder (SCD) and support those living with it. She currently works with the Commonwealth Youth Health Network (CYHN) in a bid to ensure improved youth involvement in health advocacy within commonwealth states. Nkechikwu is a member of the Nigerian Bar Association and holds a master in International Economic Law, (with Distinction). Nkechikwu is a Doctoral Candidate at Warwick University, where she also teaches Law and International Business Environment. She was presented the Queen’s Young Leaders Award and was recognized as one of the 2015 Commonwealth Youth Achievers for her work on SCD. For her, sickle cell hits close to home. While not a carrier of the disorder herself, she watched as her twin, Nkem, suffered from the debilitating effects of sickle cell disease. The discovery was met with unanswered questions, uncertainties and endless nights of pain, she recalled. Instead of adopting a defeatist attitude, she sought ways to help, even if it meant deploying tough love. Online profile

Dominique Friend is a 43 year old living with Sickle Cell Disease.  Her life has truly been interrupted as a result of this dreadful disease. The chief complaint of Sickle Cell is pain. Because of the severe pain, it’s hard for her to function as a normal person. Dominique was once denied pain relief all night long because a nurse ignored her insistence that the medication pump wasn’t working and thought that she was seeking more medicine because she wanted a high! After experiencing many more issues like this one, being stigmatized as a drug seeker, often judged by how she looked, made to feel like her pain wasn’t real, and in talking with many other SCD patients made her realize that she was not alone in this struggle. Dominique wrote Sickle to be an encouragement to other SCD patients as well as a tool to educate the medical community from the patient’s perspective. Learning to advocate for herself has taught her to teach others that they are their own best advocates, because they know their bodies better than anyone. As she began her journey to support other SCD patients, and educating the medical community from the patient’s perspective, Dominique has become more aware of the different protocols that states follow while caring for Sickle Cell patients. Online profile

Edward Donnell Ivy is a Director of Outreach and Education at The Possibilities Clinic. He was a Medical Officer at Health Resources and Services Administration. He is also a sickle cell patient and an advocate. Edward Donnell Ivy had a very difficult childhood living with the disease.  By the time he reached university, he would often suffer terrible pain that would put him in hospital for weeks. At the age of 23, he was diagnosed with acute chest syndrome. The hematologist prescribed a daily dose of a drug called Hydroxyurea. It stopped his severe pain and changed the doctor’s career path. Since then, he has made it his life’s work to ensure that patients have access to the resources they need. More recently he has achieved this through the National Institutes of Health in Washington DC. He has worked on sickle cell clinical practice guidelines and on projects involving cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Edward Donnell Ivy continues to work in the field of sickle cell disease and advocating for people living with the same. Online profile

Florence Neal Cooper Smith has been fighting to end sickle cell disease for more than 40 years. She is a tireless leader in the effort to raise awareness of sickle cell disease, both on a regional and national level. A native of Virginia, Cooper-Smith first learned about the existence of SCD when she was just a child back in the early 1940s. While waiting for a doctor's appointment, she picked up a book and started reading. That book was all about sickle cell disease, and it ignited a passion within her to help those who lived with it. Since the '60s, Cooper-Smith has been working to raise awareness of sickle cell not only in her local communities, but also state-wide and nationwide. Known as the "mother of sickle cell in Virginia," Cooper-Smith is also the first Black woman to have a professorship named after her. She is a graduate of Virginia Union University and completed graduate studies in pathology at the MCV Campus of VCU. In 1969, she organized Richmond’s first city-wide survey to determine the extent of sickle cell awareness in surrounding areas, and in 1972, she founded the Virginia Sickle Cell Anemia Awareness Program at MCV with Dr. Robert B. Scott, Sr. This ambitious campaign sought to educate the public about sickle cell anemia. Because of her efforts, Virginia now screens all newborns at birth for sickle cell disease. Online profile