Board

Sarah H. O’Brien, MD, MSc

President

Pediatric hematologist in the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Hemostasis and Thrombosis Center, an investigator in the Center for Innovation in Pediatric Practice at Nationwide Children’s Research Institute and an Associate Professor of Pediatrics at The Ohio State University College of Medicine. She serves as the Director of Experimental Therapeutics for the Division of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology/BMT and also leads a multi-disciplinary hematology and adolescent gynecology clinic at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. Her clinical and research interests include pediatric thrombosis and thromboprophylaxis, the evaluation and diagnosis of mild bleeding disorders, and the intersections between hematology and women’s health.

Andra H. James, MD, MPH

Founding Board President

An Ob/Gyn and high-risk pregnancy expert, Dr. James is an internationally renowned leader in advancing the optimal treatment and management of women with blood disorders and is the recipient of the CDC Blood Disorders in Public Health Outstanding Leadership Award 2012; and the HTRS Lifetime Achievement Award 2017.

Dr. James served as Board President since the inception of FWGBD, spanning 13 years. She remains a member, in addition to the Chair of the Medical Advisory Committee.

Barbara A. Konkle, MD

Scientific Director, Washington Center for Bleeding Disorders; Dr. Konkle is also a Professor of Medicine, Division of Medicine/Hematology, at the University of Washington. Dr. Konkle has long been committed to improving the care of women with bleeding and clotting disorders through research, clinical care, and leadership in national organizations, and is the recipient of the ISTH 2021 Esteemed Career Award.

Biree Andemariam, MD

Biree Andemariam, MD is a physician-scientist at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine (UConn) in the Division of Hematology/Oncology, Founding Director of the New England Sickle Cell Institute (NESCI), and Director of the Connecticut Bleeding Disorders Center.  Dr. Andemariam is the past Chief Medical Officer of the Sickle Cell Disease Association of America, Inc. (SCDAA) and now serves on the Board of Directors. During her tenure at the SCDAA, she has been twice awarded the Chairman’s Award (2019, 2020) for her outstanding service centered around national programmatic development, disease education/awareness, legislative advocacy, corporate fundraising, and media engagement.

Janice Bacon, MD

Dr. Janice Bacon is a practicing Physician, OB/GYN at Lexington Women’s Care at Lexington Medical Center in West Columbia, South Carolina. Her subspecialty certification is in Pediatric and Adoelscent Gynecology. She was also the past president of the North American Society of Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology (NASPAG) as well as the past president of the South Atlantic Association of Obstetrics and Gynecologists. Dr. Bacon’s professional interests include pediatric and adolescent gynecology and contraceptive management.

Kenneth Mann, PhD

Dr. Kenneth Mann, Emeritus Professor of Biochemistry and of Medicine at the University of Vermont, has a long and distinguished career characterized by quality science, well-managed large-scale interdisciplinary research enterprises and excellence in service to medical, lay and professional organizations. Among the many awards Dr. Mann has received, his latest award is the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Hemostasis and Thrombosis Research Society – HTRS.

Leslie J. Graham, MSHA

President and CEO, Primary Care Coalition, Silver Spring, MD. Ms. Graham’s expertise includes improving healthcare quality and access while managing costs, especially for the underserved and women.

Peggy James, CPA

Peggy James is a Certified Public Accountant currently based in Durham, NC. She graduated from North Carolina State University with a Master of Accounting degree and spent 9 years working in higher education finance. Since 2021, she has been working at her own firm providing accounting and tax services to small businesses, freelancers, and individuals. Peggy has experience in corporate and nonprofit accounting and finance, ranging from journal entries and bank reconciliations to management of a complex fiscal year-end close process with accruals and deferrals.

Ravindra Sarode, MD

Chief of Pathology and Professor of Pathology, as well as the Medical Director of Clinical Laboratory Services and the Medical Director of the Division of Transfusion Medicine and Hemostasis at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. Current focal areas of his work include apheresis, platelet dysfunction, hypercoagulability, and thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura. Endowed Title: John H. Childers, MD, Professorship in Pathology

Roshni Kulkarni, MD

Professor Emerita and former Director of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology at Michigan State University. Dr. Kulkarni was the Director of CDC’s Division of Blood Disorders and Distinguished Hematology Consultant for CDC. She serves on Boards of national and international organizations, including ASPHO, ATHN, and ISTH, and has received the US FDA Distinguished Service Award.

Russell E. Ware, MD, PhD

Director, Division of Hematology at Cincinnati Children’s. Dr. Ware is also the Institute Co-Executive Director of the Cancer and Blood Diseases Institute and the Director of the Global Health Center. Dr. Ware has been involved with a wide variety of clinical and translational hematology research projects for 25 years, however, his primary interests have focused on sickle cell disease. He currently runs an NIH-funded laboratory effort investigating genetic modifiers of sickle cell disease.

Sarah Luke, Esq.

Sarah Luke is Executive Legal Counsel at Brooklyn College, the City University of New York.  With over a decade of experience in higher education law, she provides legal counsel, fosters informed decision-making and creative problem-solving in all areas of institutional operation, instruction, research, and administration. Prior to her role at Brooklyn, Sarah was in private practice in New York City where her work focused on the representation of private colleges and universities. She has also held in-house positions at public universities in Michigan, Illinois, and New Jersey.