The Incyte Ingenuity Awards in GVHD

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.

Dr El-Jawahri serves as the Director of the Blood and Marrow Transplant Survivorship Program, the Associate Director of the Cancer Outcomes Research and Education Program (CORE), and the Director of Digital Health at Massachusetts General Hospital. She graduated from Harvard Medical School and completed her residency training at Massachusetts General Hospital. She subsequently completed her hematology-oncology fellowship at the Dana Farber Harvard Cancer Center Fellowship Program. Dr El-Jawahri is an oncologist specializing in the care of patients with hematologic malignancies and those undergoing hematopoietic stem cell transplantation and adoptive cellular therapy. Her goal is to improve the lived experience of patients with hematologic malignancies and their families. Her research interests include investigating patient-reported outcomes, developing interventions to enhance patient-centered decision-making, and designing supportive, palliative, and digital health interventions to improve the care of patients with hematologic malignancies and their families. Dr El-Jawahri and her organization were also the recipients of the inaugural 2020 Incyte Ingenuity Award. Learn more about her award-winning project.

Alice Houk is the Senior Director of Patient and Professional Services of the Aplastic Anemia & MDS International Foundation (AAMDS). The mission of AAMDS is to support patients and families living with aplastic anemia, myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH), and related bone marrow failure diseases. At AAMDS, Houk plans and develops all medical education programs, including symposia at national medical conferences, the biennial AAMDS scientific symposium, and web-based programs. She also oversees AAMDS patient education programs and services. Houk serves as liaison to the Foundation’s medical advisory board and with other professional and patient organizations, and she manages the Foundation’s research grant program. She holds a master's degree in Health Policy from the University of Maryland and a Nonprofit Executive Management Certificate from Georgetown University. Houk and AAMDS were also the recipients of the 2021 Incyte ingenuity Awards in GVHD. Learn more about her award-winning project.

Dr Barbara Abernathy is the President and CEO of the Pediatric Oncology Support Team, Inc. (POST), a nonprofit helping children and their families cope with the devastating effects of cancer. She has 35 years’ experience in nonprofits, 25 of those years at POST. Being a cancer survivor herself, she brings a personal touch to the children and families battling childhood cancer. She is also a vigorous advocate for those fighting blood cancer, facing a bone marrow transplant, or dealing with GVHD. She is adjunct faculty at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine and Florida Atlantic University and has authored scholarly peer-reviewed articles. Dr Abernathy has been an invited speaker at many national and international professional conferences, including being the keynote speaker for the BMT Infonet conference in 2019.

Dr Doris Ponce is an Associate Professor of Medicine as well as the GVHD Program Director at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Her research experience focuses on allogeneic stem cell transplantation (allo-HCT) with an emphasis on GVHD. She conducts research for the prevention and treatment of acute and chronic GVHD, including investigator-initiated translational studies. Dr Ponce established a multidisciplinary GVHD clinic at her institution that currently serves a wide catchment area. Dr Ponce has been the recipient of several funding awards and her work has been featured in the journal Blood and presented in national and international meetings.