March Newsletter (2026)
This month, we announce the relaunch of the SCD Caucus, recap a successful Policy Forum, and share some exciting upcoming opportunities.
View some of our most recent media mentions. We’re proud to be featured on local
and national levels, speaking about sickle cell disease.
ASH has announced the recipients of the 2025 ASH Advocacy Awards. Sick Cells is honored to receive the 2025 ASH Outstanding Service Award. Read the full press release.
In anticipation of the upcoming 2025 Sick Cells Therapeutics Conference: Therapeutics Unlocked, Maia Z. Laing of Sick Cells sat down with Bio.News to better understand her journey as a patient advocate, as well as what she sees is still needed in sickle cell advocacy today.
Authority Magazine, a Medium publication, spoke with Ashley Valentine about her life and work in the sickle cell community.
The New York Times talks to the sickle cell community about upcoming gene therapies.
Our community has a lot to say. Read up on some personal views and perspective
from Sick Cells’ members and the SCD community.
In this powerful and deeply reflective piece, we hear from Kwaku Aurelien—a law student UConn School of Law, advocate, and sickle cell disease (SCD) Warrior—whose journey sits at the intersection of lived experience and legal advocacy. As a Sick Cells Ambassador and dedicated advocate for the SCD community, Kwaku shares how navigating SCD has not only shaped his identity, but also sharpened his commitment to advancing equity through law and policy. Most recently, he served as a state Team Lead during our 2026 SCD Policy Forum, engaging directly with congressional offices to advocate for federal priorities impacting the SCD community. From the classroom to the policy arena, his story is a testament to resilience, purpose, and the evolving meaning of what it truly means to be a “Warrior.”
Sick Cells met with Hanif Mouehla, a Harvard pre-med student and passionate sickle cell advocate, who has courageously shared his story to increase awareness of clinical trials and the promise of cell and gene therapies.
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