Meet our Masterclass Expert Speakers
Dr. Patrice Buckner Jackson
Moderator, Wellness During the Holidays and Other Special Occasions: Tips for Navigating Your Emotional Wealth and Well-Being
Dr. Patrice Buckner Jackson, known in her community as Dr. PBJ, gives educators the strategies for accomplishing purposeful work without burnout.
Dr. PBJ is an educator of almost 25 years and an Executive Coach for more than 10 years. She holds a doctoral degree in Education Administration, served in executive leadership at colleges and universities, and facilitated leadership training as a faculty member for the Center for Creative Leadership. Dr. Jackson worked in higher education at many levels, from student assistant to President’s Cabinet and is the recipient of several professional awards and accolades.
Dr. Jackson founded EduCare Training and Consulting, LLC through a purpose of pouring in to those who pour out so much. Much of her work is specifically focused on equipping and refreshing educators. Compassionate work can carry a high price tag: your mind, body, spirit and relationships may be in distress as you serve the needs of others. Dr. Jackson leads her community to serve well without paying an ultimate price.
Dr. PBJ is the creator and host of the Disrupting Burnout podcast as well as the author of the Amazon best-seller, Disrupting Burnout: The professional woman’s LIFELINE to finding purpose.
Annie J. Ross-Womack
Panelist, Wellness During the Holidays and Other Special Occasions: Tips for Navigating Your Emotional Wealth and Well-Being
Annie J. Ross-Womack is the Executive Director for SCDAA Ohio Sickle Cell and Health Association, Inc. (OSCHA), Ohio’s only statewide nonprofit community organization of its kind providing education, advocacy, and support to individuals and families affected by sickle cell disease, sickle cell trait, and other hemoglobinopathies.
She advocates for families, neighborhoods, small businesses, and civil rights while serving the Sickle Cell Disease Association of America Executive Leadership Council, Ohio Rare Disease Council, Ohio Rare, Ohio Institute for Colored Communities, Ohio Department of Health Maternity and Child Health Block Grant - Children and Youth with Special Healthcare Needs Committee as well as other local and state initiatives.
As Executive Director, Ross - Womack oversees the day-to-day operations of statewide staff, initiatives, and programs that empower individuals living with sickle cell disease, their caregivers, and the professionals that care for them. Her oversight includes all grant funded programing, one of which is the HRSA Newborn Screening Follow-Up, where OSCHA has been both a sub-recipient and awardee for over ten years ( June 2015 – May 2021) and the current cycle (September 2021 to present date).
Ross – Womack harnesses her leadership ability to galvanize the state’s elected officials, medical leadership, and others to ensure that individuals living with sickle cell disease are given equitable care and humane treatment and included in every aspect of their healthcare throughout their lifespan.
Wanda Whitten-Shurney, MD
Panelist, Wellness During the Holidays and Other Special Occasions: Tips for Navigating Your Emotional Wealth and Well-Being
From an early age Dr. Wanda Whitten- Shurney was exposed to the sickle cell movement. As her visionary father Dr. Charles Whitten recognized the need for national awareness and support when he co-founded the National Association for Sickle Cell Disease, now known as The Sickle Cell Disease Association of America. Dr Shurney has over 30 years of experience providing high quality and compassionate care for children with sickle cell disease at the Comprehensive Sickle Cell Clinic at Children’s Hospital of Michigan. Dr. Whitten-Shurney currently serves as the CEO and Medical Director of the Sickle Cell Disease Association of America Michigan Chapter and serves as medical advisor for the Sickle Cell Reproductive Health Education Directive (SC RED). She had the honor of serving on the NHLBI SCD Research Advisory Committee from 2016-2020.
Dr. Shurney is the proud product of the Detroit Public School system. She won first prize for her project on sickle cell disease at the Durfee junior high school science fair. Dr. Shurney completed her undergraduate work at the University of Michigan and attended Medical School at Howard University. She received her pediatric residency training at Children’s Hospital of Michigan and spent a year in their Hematology Oncology Fellowship. She is currently focused on the development of the Charles F. Whitten Center of Excellence in the Henry for Health System to provide wrap around services for adults living with sickle cell disease in Michigan.
Dr. Shurney prides herself on patient engagement and education. As a pediatrician she understands the values of empowering and equipping families with coping skills in order to tackle the potential realities of sickle cell disease. She is known for her down to earth personality and sense of humor. She has two children, Simone and Cameron and one granddaughter, Vanessa Rose. When she is not advocating for the sickle cell community, she enjoys spoiling her granddaughter, movies, traveling, and ballroom dancing.
Dr. Edward Donnell Ivy, MD, MPH
Moderator, Seminar One - The Current State of Sickle Cell Disease Treatments: Pipelines or Pipe Dreams?
Dr. Ivy uses his personal and professional experiences to improve care for individuals with health conditions, including sickle cell disease, by working collaboratively to strengthen the public health infrastructure. Dr. Ivy serves as the Chief Medical Officer for the Sickle Cell Disease Association of America (SCDAA). Prior to joining SCDAA, Dr. Ivy worked with the Maternal and Child Health Bureau of the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) as the Program Director of the Hemoglobinopathies Program, which included the Sickle Cell Disease Treatment Demonstration Program, the Sickle Cell Disease Newborn Screening Program and the Thalassemia Program. Dr. Ivy worked at the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of the National Institutes of Health where he was part of the team that developed the NHLBI Sickle Cell Disease Treatment Recommendations of 2014. Dr. Ivy completed his medical school training at East Carolina University School of Medicine. After starting a residency in pediatrics, Dr. Ivy realized his interest in public health and attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Public Health where he received his master’s in public health with honors.
Lakiea Bailey, Ph.D.
Speaker, Seminar One - The Current State of Sickle Cell Disease Treatments: Pipelines or Pipe Dreams?
Dr. Lakiea Bailey is a sickle cell disease advocate, educator and research scientist. Diagnosed with sickle cell disease at age three, she has become a passionate advocate for those living with rare diseases.
Dr. Bailey earned a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry and molecular biology and a doctorate degree in molecular hematology and regenerative medicine. At the completion of her doctorate training, she founded and began working as the executive director of the Sickle Cell Community Consortium, a coordinated network of sickle cell community-based organizations (CBOs), patient and caregiver advocates, community partners and health care/research advisors. sickle cell awareness. Her goal is to provide a platform to harness and amplify the power of the patient voice, ensuring that the sickle cell patient and caregiver takes a leadership role in research, policy, advocacy, legislation and education.
She was one of the founding board of directors for the Family Advocacy Coalition for the Empowerment of the Sickle Cell Disease Community (FACE of SCD) and the founding vice president of Sickle Cell Warriors, Inc., serving as science advisor for both.
Dr. Crawford Strunk
Speaker, Seminar One - The Current State of Sickle Cell Disease Treatments: Pipelines or Pipe Dreams?
Dr. Crawford Strunk is a pediatric hematologist with experience and expertise in lifespan sickle cell care and vice chief medical officer for SCDAA. Dr. Strunk graduated from Colby College with a degree in classics and music. After earning his medical doctorate at the State University of New York Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, he completed his pediatric residency at Geisinger Medical Center in Danville, Pennsylvania and his fellowship in pediatric hematology/oncology at Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital in Cleveland, Ohio. He was on the staff at Toledo Children's Hospital and served as the director of the Pediatric Sickle Cell Center since 2006 and the co-director of the adult sickle cell center from 2018 until 2023. He started as a staff physician at the Cleveland Clinic as co-director of the Lifespan Sickle Cell Program starting in 2023. He has been active in SCDAA since joining the Medical and Research Advisory Council in 2018.
Dr. John Tisdale
Speaker, Seminar One - The Current State of Sickle Cell Disease Treatments: Pipelines or Pipe Dreams?
Dr. John Tisdale is a senior investigator in cellular and molecular therapeutics branch at the National Institutes of Health’s NHLBI. He is working on multiple strategies in the laboratory and the clinic to cure sickle cell disease by repairing or replacing the precursor bone marrow cells that give rise to sickled red blood cells.
Dr. Tisdale earned his M.D. from the Medical University of South Carolina. He did his internship and residency at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine and was chief resident at the Nashville Veterans Administration Medical Center. He joined the NHLBI in 1994, where he has been a hematology fellow, senior staff fellow and clinical investigator. He joined the Molecular and Clinical Hematology Branch of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases in 1998 as a tenure track investigator and was tenured in 2007. In 2011, the College of Charleston recognized Dr. Tisdale with the Alumni of the Year Award and the Pre-Medical Society’s Outstanding Service Award in Medicine. He was recently elected to the American Society for Clinical Investigation and is a member of the American Society of Hematology. Dr. Tisdale has authored or coauthored more than 140 papers.