STEP for Bleeding Disorders 2021

The Bleeding Disorder Association of South Carolina supports the National Hemophilia Federation’s premier research fellowship program which is named in honor of Dr. Judith Graham Pool. Established by NHF in 1972, the Judith Graham Pool (JGP) Postdoctoral Research Fellowships have provided a long legacy of support for basic science and pre-clinical research in bleeding disorders. In 1965, Dr. Pool discovered a method of extracting clotting factor from human plasma to formulate cryoprecipitate. This breakthrough opened the door to a series of research developments that would revolutionize treatment for hemophilia and ultimately lead to its management through recombinant replacement factor and current extended half-life therapies.  

Since the program's inception, NHF has funded numerous scientists whose projects have produced vital insights into hemophilia and other bleeding disorders. JGP research fellowship award projects have contributed to the development of safer concentrates, enhanced methods of testing and screening, and have laid the groundwork for current advances in gene therapy for hemophilia.

Each year, BDASC provides direct funding support to the JGP through our fundraising proceeds. A small portion of the funds raised each year is donated to the JGP research in support of enhancing innovations in treatment care. Your donations allow you to have a direct hand in our hope for a cure for bleeding disorders. Thank you for helping support research for a cure!

BDASC is proud to participate in the State of the Science Summit and host one of the nations live groups, having a direct voice in the research for our future!

National Hemophilia Foundation (NHF) is hosting the State of the Science Research Summit, September 12-15, 2021, bringing the community together to identify the most important areas of research that can make a real, lasting difference on life with a bleeding disorder. To get this right, they need input from our greatest experts on these topics: our community!

In particular, it’s very important to NHF to include the perspectives of underserved segments of our community. So they have created a series of remote participation groups, to include individuals with bleeding disorders or caregivers who represent distinct race/ethnicity populations (for example, African Americans, Asian Americans, Indigenous persons, Mexican and Central American Hispanic individuals, etc.). NHF's goal will be to include individuals in each group who have diverse experiences based on their disorder, gender and sexual orientation as well.

Supported by a moderator, participants will come together during the Summit to discuss the dialogue and provide real-time comments to the panel participants about how well the research ideas meet their specific needs. The commentary from these sessions will be included in NHF's manuscript to define the research path forward for the community. Further, they expect to reconvene these groups in the Spring to review and improve upon the opportunities they have identified.

You can also learn more and register for the Summit on NHF's website!

A world without bleeding disorders begins with research, but we need to do this together.