04/27/2026
Last weekend I had the absolute honor of speaking at the inaugural Sickle Cell Disease Therapeutics Summit hosted by and inspiring doesn't even begin to describe my experience. As an advocate , I can often be found preaching the importance of not being an island to caregivers and patients alike, but as a caregiver, I too am guilty of this. But being surrounded by SO MANY people that are part of the sickle cell community - caregivers, patients, researchers, physicians, and more - truly reminded me (AND ENCOURAGED ME!) that we are not alone. We are not on individual islands. We are all in this together, working towards a cure, working towards eradicating this excruciatingly painful disease, and working toward improving the quality of life of those fighting in the interim. There is power in advocacy, power in community... Using those two powers together, we will be unstoppable.