Jan 19, 2021
As we Kick Off our Spotlight Series for National
Blood Donor Month, I am so excited to welcome to tomorrow’s show,
Craig Butler, National Executive Director and Radhika Sawh, Genetic
Counselor, Board Member of the Cooley's Anemia Foundation.
Craig Butler has been leading the fight against
thalassemia for over half a century. Mr. Butler himself has been an
active participant in that fight for over a decade, starting with
the Foundation as National Communications Director in 2001. In
addition to directing all communications-related activities in that
capacity, he also served as the Principal Investigator on the
Foundation’s collaborative agreement with the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC) to help educate the thalassemia
community about effective prevention strategies that can contribute
to better outcomes for those with thalassemia.
In addition to advocating on behalf of individuals
with severe forms of thalassemia, Mr. Butler directs Cooley’s
Anemia Foundation efforts aimed at informing both the general
public and specific at-risk populations about thalassemia trait. He
also oversees programs to encourage all members of the public to
donate blood, as treatment for thalassemia involves frequent
lifelong transfusions.
Mr. Butler is proud to be the author of “The
Cooley’s Anemia Foundation Storybook,” a publication for children
with thalassemia.
Radhika holds a master's degree in genetic
counseling and worked as the National Director of Patient Services
for the Cooley's Anemia Foundation prior to joining the faculty of
the Joan H. Marks Graduate Program in Human Genetics at Sarah
Lawrence College. She is also a wife, a mother as well as an
individual living and thriving with beta thalassemia major who
frequently speaks on behalf of the New York Blood Center as a
volunteer blood donor advocate.
Listen in as Craig & Radhika share the great need
for Blood Donors & Why Blood Donations Mean Life for Those with
Thalassemia.
Resource:
Cooley's Anemia Foundation