Meredith Cowden, MA, LPCC-S
Meredith Cowden, MA, LPCC-S, received her Master of Arts degree in Art
Therapy and Counseling from Ursuline College in Ohio in 2011. She is working as a psychotherapist in private practice with LifeStance Health, Inc. Her therapeutic work is primarily focused on trauma, building personal resilience, and living with chronic illness.
Meredith is a cancer survivor of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and had an allogeneic bone marrow transplant in 2001. This subsequently led to the development of chronic GVHD, which she has been living with for 20 years. Since this diagnosis, Meredith has focused on education and support for those who are living with the aftereffects of a hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). Her family started The Meredith A. Cowden Foundation in 2007 to address educational and support needs surrounding blood cancers, HSCT, and GVHD. The Foundation’s mission is to raise awareness of the impact of leukemia and GVHD, to fund research for GVHD, and to provide financial support for nonmedical expenses associated with blood cancers.
Meredith has collaborated with nbmtLINK, BMTinfonet, Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, and several additional national and international organizations, hospitals, and pharmaceutical companies, specifically presenting on life post-transplant and living with chronic GVHD. Additionally, she has been a member of the NIH GVHD Consensus Consortium Steering Committee and led the 2020 NIH Chronic GVHD Consensus Conference Patient Advocacy Summit. She is currently chairing the NIH Patient Advocacy Advisory Committee (PAAC), working to address unmet needs of patients.