Up Front
ASH Directions
ASH Brings Sickle Cell
Disease Awareness
to Capitol Hill
The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute’s (NHLBI) recently released expert
panel report on the management of sickle
cell disease (SCD) is an important and
timely step toward raising the standard
of care for patients afflicted with this
disorder. ASH has endorsed the evidencebased report based on its overall merit
and its potential to improve care for the
nearly 100,000 Americans with SCD.
To discuss the report’s findings and
highlight the need for state-of-the-art
clinical care for SCD patients, on September 16, ASH co-hosted a congressional
briefing on Capitol Hill with the Sickle
Cell Disease Association of America
(SCDAA), featuring remarks from:
• NHLBI Director Gary Gibbons, MD
• Patient advocate Carlton Haywood
Jr., PhD, MA, from The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and Berman
Institute of Bioethics
• ASH Councillor Alexis Thompson,
MD, from Ann & Robert H. Lu ɥ