Yaw Ansong-Ansongton, MD, Highlights National Minority Health Month, Celebrate Diversity Month

While meeting with Heme Today to discuss his research at the 2024 American Society of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Conference, Dr. Ansong-Ansongton, of the University of California, Berkeley, and University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), shared what National Minority Health Month and Celebrate Diversity Month mean to him.

“My research interest is in sickle cell disease and helping uncover the disease pathophysiology … I am personally interested in sickle cell disease because I carry the sickle cell gene. I have family members and friends who have died from sickle cell disease, and so I see the impact on my community,” Dr. Ansong-Ansongton said.

He noted that his mentor, Angela Rivers, MD, PhD, of UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland, holds a similar perspective.

“I don’t mean to speak for her, but you can see the empathy and care she has for her patients and for the research work,” Dr. Ansong-Ansongton said. “I think if we had more people from various underserved communities also participating in clinical care and research, we would have research that is much more relevant to improving patient outcomes.”