Advocacy Work for Newborn Screening Research and Treatment for Sickle Cell Disease

Every state screens for sickle cell disease and researchers are working with industry and advocates to develop new ways to improve the health outcomes of individuals living with sickle cell disease.

Today, on the Newborn Screening SPOTlight podcast, we welcome Yvonne Carroll, RN, JD who is trained as a researcher, a lawyer, a nurse, and a patient advocate and is currently the Director of Patient Services in the Department of Hematology at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee.  She has over two decades of dedicated commitment to advancing the management of care, advocacy work for equitable resources, and community engagement to amplify the voices of patient and families with sickle cell disease. 

She sits on several editorial and national boards including the National Black Nurses Association (NBNA) Sickle Cell Sub-Committee, the International Association of Sickle Cell Nurses and Professional Associates (IASCNAPA), and the Sickle Cell Community Consortium Executive Board.

Yvonne been appointed and reappointed as a member of the Tennessee Governor’s Genetic Advisory Committee for more than 15 years, and has been involved in community based participatory research since the beginning of her career, and in 2021, was recognized by American Lebanese Syrian Associated Charities (ALSAC), which is the largest healthcare related charity in the United States,  with the St. Jude Legacy Award for her lifetime work with the sickle cell community.

Yvonne graduated with a Bachelor of Nursing Degree from the University of Tennessee and a Law degree from the University of Cincinnati. She is a proud veteran of the U.S. Navy, Judge Advocate General Corps, and is a wife, mother, and grandmother.  Join us in listening to Yvonne share her passion and inspiring story of hope and vision for newborn screening research in sickle cell disease. 

Podcast Interview Questions: 

1. How did you get involve with newborn screening research.
2. You are currently the Director of Patient Services in the Department of Hematology at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee. Can you tell our listeners about your role? (Yvonne, you can mention about the St Jude SCRIPP program and listeners can learn more about it here).
3. You have been funded for sickle cell disease projects for more than 20 years. What areas of research have advanced in sickle cell disease as well as stalled in these past decades? Where do you see the direction of newborn screening research in sickle cell disease in the future?
4. Your work also involved in engaging and empowering families in decision making process on the management of care for sickle cell disease. What advice do you have for researchers to engage families and advocacy organization to amplify their voices?
5. You were a part of a group who published a study on “Strategies to increase access to basic sickle cell disease care in low- and middle-income countries”. Can you tell share with our listeners on these helpful strategies needed to increase access to basic SCD care for patients in these settings?
6. You presented on “Informed Consent for Sickle Cell Disease Gene Therapy Reimagined” at the NBS Research Summit hosted by NBSTRN last September 2022. What are current challenges in consent process? How do you envision the informed consent reimagined?
7. Are you involved in training the next generation of advocates and nurses, and what do you tell them about newborn screening research? (Yvonne, you can talk about Sickle Cell Nursing Bootcamp and include links and application process).
8. You are currently on the Steering Committee at NBSTRN. What role do you see NBSTRN play in helping to advance your work and the field of sickle cell diseases?
9. What does NBS research mean to you?