Thalassemia Patient and Family Conference 2014

The thalassemia patient/family conference held on January 18, 2014 at Children’s Hospital Oakland was a

success!  Approximately 45 patients, families and professionals attended to hear experts speak on the following:

---

Thalassemia Care and Research Update:
Elliott Vichinsky, MD
Children’s Hospital & Research Center Oakland:

---

Chelation:
Ashutosh Lal, MD
Children’s Hospital Research Center Oakland:

---

Health Insurance Update/Affordable Care Act:
Wendy Murphy, LCSW
Children’s Hospital Research Center Oakland:

Sabahat Rahman
University of California Berkeley:

---

Bone Marrow/Stem Cell Transplant/Gene Therapy:
Mark Walters, MD
Children’s Hospital & Reseach Center Oakland:

---

PHRESH Grant Update:
Lisa Feuchtbaum, DrPh, MPH
California Department of Public Health:

---

A children’s program for ages three and older was run by two Child Life specialists. Activities included developmentally appropriate teaching on thalassemia and health, medical play, and art projects such as sand art, picture frames and beading to name a few.

Conference attendees enjoyed lunch catered by Gira Polli of Mill Valley and dined al fresco.
Special thanks to our speakers for sharing their expertise.

We would like to thank our Volunteers:

• Sofia Dhanani
• Stacey Wong
• Kelly Stewart, MA – Children’s Program
• Nenna Okezi, MA – Children’s Program

Special thanks to Nancy Anderson and Apo-Pharma for making this conference possible.