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Dr.Griffin Rodgers
TURNING
PAIN INTO
PURPOSE
Making people healthy has been a lifelong quest for Dr. Griffin Rodgers since he watched friendsdie from disease. The veteran scientist continues cutting-edge work in their honor By Demetria Mosley
l When grief struck the young Dr. Griffin Rodgers’ life at a young age, he transformed the pain that he was experiencing into a light that guided him through the thick of his darkness. Losing three of his clos- est friends to sickle cell disease as a teenager motivated the New Orleans native to pursue medicine as a career.
“I watched them suffer unbearable pain before passing away,” he shared. “When you’re a teenager, you’re not supposed to bury your friends. Their pain and their deaths at such a young age are what influ- enced me to learn more.”
One in 13 Black Americans are born with sickle cell trait, according to the Center of Disease Control and Prevention. Wanting to learn all that he could about the blood disorder that took over his friends’ lives, Dr. Rodgers enrolled in Brown University’s medical program right out of high school. He was driven to study hematology, the study of blood disorders.
His work as a physician and scientist let the doctor to participate in cre- ating the medication. This therapy helps children and adults with sickle cell disease manage their illness. Observing his friends suffering led his drive to find to find a way to help ease others pain.
“It’s hard to describe how good it feels to know your work has helped al- leviate suffering and make life better for people with sickle cell disease,” he
HARLEM FINE ARTS SHOW MAGAZINE PAGE 25
PHOTO: COURTESY OF DR. RODGERS