JML Fellowship Honors the Future of Hematology

For Immediate Release

Media Contact:
Ilana Ostrin
iostrin@hemophilia.org
212-328-3769

New York, NY -- The next generation of researchers are continuously inspiring and fueling NHF’s renewed focus on research. NHF is proud to extend congratulations to the first-ever recipients of the new Jeanne Marie Lusher (JML) Diversity Fellowship: Dr. Olubusola Oluwole and Dr. Shani Johnson.

NHF’s newest research fellowship program is named in honor of Dr. Jeanne Marie Lusher, a distinguished clinician and researcher whose career focused on inhibitor development in factor VIII patients.

Meet Dr. Oluwole

As a JML recipient, Dr. Oluwole will receive financial support over three years that will aid her clinical research. JML identifies clinicians from under-represented communities and genders who are early in their careers and supports their career interest in inherited blood and/or bleeding disorders.

Dr. Oluwole – a third-year hem/onc Fellow at the University of Washington –  was chosen for her potential to make a significant, positive impact on the future of patient care. Her passion and excitement about the advances being made in curative therapies for inherited blood disorders are evident in her research on sickle cell disease (SCD).

On receiving a JML fellowship, Dr. Oluwole said, “The Jean Marie Lusher Diversity Research Fellowship award will provide me with the support to achieve my goal of a prolific career in clinical and translational research in historically marginalized SCD patients.”

Meet Dr. Johnson

Dr. Shani Johnson is a clinical postdoctoral fellow within the Department of Pediatrics, Section of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology at Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children's Hospital. Dr. Johnson earned her medical degree from Duke University School of Medicine and completed her pediatric residency at Northwestern University/Lurie Children’s Hospital.

Dr. Johnson is passionate about research, and committed to the clinical care of children and young adults with sickle cell disease. Recently, she has conducted sickle cell disease translational research with a specific focus on acute chest syndrome.

With the support of the NHF Jeanne Marie Lusher Diversity fellowship, Dr. Johnson plans to continue her sickle cell disease research with her project titled “Determining Clinical Severity and Molecular Profiles of Acute Chest Syndrome in Sickle Cell Disease.” In this project, she will investigate the roles of inflammation, blood cell rheology, and genetic variation in the pathophysiology of acute chest syndrome in order to determine why some children develop more severe complications than others.

Dr. Johnson’s overall goal is to become an independently funded clinical and translational physician-scientist and leader in the field of pediatric hematology, improving the lives of children and adolescents with sickle cell disease nationally and globally.