Looking at the NASEM Report: Series Introduction

Nancy René's Looking at the NASEM Report Series Series Introduction As some of you know, I spent my career in education. I taught mathematics in the Los Angeles Unified School District before becoming a principal at one of the inner-city high schools. Well, once a teacher, always a teacher. During a Sickle Cell Disease Association of America (SCDAA) conference call, I learned of The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) Report—Addressing Sickle Cell Disease: A Strategic Plan and Blueprint for Action—and was surprised that I had not heard of it. I try to keep up-to-date on most sickle cell publications, yet this one had slipped by. The report is huge, almost 500 pages, published in 2020 by NASEM. It is the work of 14 committee members, many of whom are well-known sickle cell experts, along with reviewers chosen for their diverse perspectives and expertise. I started by reading the summary, it’s only 4 pages and easily downloadable. Once I digested the summary and moved on to the entire book, I realized that this publication is an essential part of the advocate’s library. If you are trying to help a hospital make policy or working with a lawmaker to create legislation, this is the book you need. I thought about how I might help to get the ideas in this report to advocates all across the country and I thought that oneSCDvoice could be the perfect place. Every few weeks I plan to summarize a chapter of the Report with a link to the original so that you can get into the material in reasonable chunks. If I’ve misrepresented something or left out a key idea, you can respond in the SMART Social Wall. In that way, we can have a meaningful conversation on important topics—a conversation that can help us discuss these issues with decision-makers in our communities. I hope you like this idea and I look forward to receiving your feedback. You can start by reading the summary of the NASEM Report here. Nancy M. René Co-Founder, JVT Advocates Los Angeles, California, United States