Meet Our Board Members
David N. Braxton, PhD
Chairman of the Board
Senior Vice President, Strategic Resourcing
Sun Trust Bank, Inc.
Atlanta, GA
Ed Flowers
Vice Chair
Senior Vice President & Chief People Office
World Kitchen, LLC
Rosemont, IL
Jakela Parker
Board Treasurer
Finance Director and Global
Financial Controller
DSM BioMedical, Inc.
Exton, PA
Genice T. Nelson, DNP, APRN
Board Secretary
Nurse Practitioner Specialist
Sickle Cell Disease Day Treatment Clinic
UTSW Comprehensive
Sickle Cell Disease Program
Dallas, TX
Biree Andemariam, MD
Chief Medical Officer
Director, New England Sickle Cell Institute
Associate Professor of Medicine
Division of Hematology/Oncology
University of Connecticut Health Center
Farmington, CT
Lewis Hsu, MD
Vice Chief Medical Officer
Director of the Sickle Cell Center and Professor of Pediatrics
Pediatric Hematologist
University of Illinois at Chicago
Chicago, IL
Lise J. Hall, MBA
Associate Director of Consumer Marketing,
Lung Cancer Franchise AstraZeneca
Washington, DC
Christopher Hollins, MBA
Executive Vice President
Strategic Acquiring Partnerships
WorldPay, Inc.
Atlanta, GA
Thomas L. Johnson, JD
Interim CEO
Family Matters of Greater Washington, DC
Washington, DC
Bernie Lawrence-Watkins
Principal Attorney
Lawrence Watkins & Associates
Atlanta, GA
Tanique Mitchell
Resource Center Supervisor
Stradley Ronon Stevens and Young LLP, Law Firm
Philadelphia, PA
Gwendolyn Poles, DO
Retired Physician, Honorary Medical Staff Member,
Faculty/Medical Director,
Internal Medical Residency Program,
UPMC Pinnacle Health, Harrisburg, PA
Crystal A. Riley, PharmD. MHA, MBA
Senior Manager /Healthcare Policy & Reimbursement
Baxter International, Inc.
Washington, DC
Kim Smith-Whitley, MD
Clinical Director, Division of Hematology
The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
Philadelphia, PA
Wanda Whitten-Shurney, MD
CEO & Medical Director
Sickle Cell Disease Association Michigan Chapter, Inc.
Detroit, MI
Lennette Benjamin, MD
Board Member Emeritus
Kwaku Ohene-Frempong, MD
Board Member Emeritus