2009-12-05

Join ASH Committee on Government Affairs Chair Dr. George Weiner as ASH welcomes Melanie Bloom, national spokesperson for the Coalition to Prevent DVT and recipient of the 2009 ASH Outstanding Service Award, during the Society’s annual Grassroots Network Breakfast tomorrow from 7:00 to 8:00 a.m., in the Hilton New Orleans Riverside Versailles Ballroom.

During the last several years, the issue of prevention of DVT has become a priority advocacy issue for ASH, and Society members have worked on a number of initiatives related to the prevention and research of thrombosis. Ms. Bloom will share her personal advocacy experiences as national patient spokesperson for the Coalition to Prevent DVT and highlight how her advocacy efforts have helped to help raise public awareness and further health education measures surrounding DVT. Following the death of her husband, award-winning NBC TV journalist David Bloom, who died from complications related to DVT while on assignment in Iraq, Ms. Bloom has worked to share her personal story to raise awareness and educate patients, health-care professionals, and policy makers about reducing the risk of DVT.

In addition, this year’s breakfast will highlight the importance and role that advocacy plays in the federal funding of biomedical research in the United States. Dr. Weiner and ASH staff will also provide an overview and update on federal health-care reform efforts and the impact that reform might have on hematologists.

ASH’s advocacy efforts have been successful due in large part to the participation of Grassroots Network members. Entirely composed of volunteers from the ASH membership, the ASH Grassroots Network has seen success in bringing issues important to the future of hematology to the attention of the U.S. Congress and federal agencies. Efforts regarding federal funding for hematologic research, Medicare coverage of clinical trials, physician reimbursement, and embryonic stem cell research have been among the many successful campaigns launched by the Grassroots Network.

Please join us at the Grassroots Network Breakfast to hear the “inside scoop” from Washington and find out how you can get involved in grassroots efforts. Your participation in advocacy efforts is critical to the future of hematology.

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