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     33     <h1>
     34      Abstracts
     35     </h1>
     36     <p>
     37      <time id="post-date">1978-01-01</time>
     38     </p>
     39     <p id="post-excerpt">
     40      Text of the post-excerpt goes here.
     41     </p>
     42     <h2>
     43      Heading
     44     </h2>
     45     <blockquote>
     46      <p>
     47       The assurance of a complete and irrevocable break with everything
     48 which beclouds the past lies in a true and courageous comprehension of
     49 its full consequences.
     50      </p>
     51      <p>
     52       — Alexander Tvardovsky, editor of <em>Novy Mir</em>. Foreward to
     53 <em>One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich</em> by Alexander
     54 Solzhenitsyn. 1963.
     55      </p>
     56     </blockquote>
     57     <p>
     58      On the night of December 2nd, 2018, I was too angry to sleep. I’m not
     59 easy to ruffle (one of my cofellows dubbed me “Beau ‘Cool-as-a-Cucumber’
     60 Hilton” - I have many faults, but easy ruffleability is not among them),
     61 and I have narcolepsy, so I can count the number of nights I’ve spent
     62 both angry and sleepless on a single finger.
     63     </p>
     64     <p>
     65      That afternoon I was reflecting on the plenary session given by Dr
     66 Leon Tshilolo at the American Society of Hematology 60th Annual Meeting,
     67 where he presented data on the use of hydroxyurea in sickle cell disease
     68 in Africa. It was a beautiful talk, a major advance in the field of
     69 hematology, and a wakeup call.
     70     </p>
     71     <p>
     72      Hydroxyurea is an inexpensive drug that makes a huge difference for
     73 many folks with sickle cell disease, and has been used for decades. The
     74 majority of people with sickle cell disease live in Sub-Saharan Africa.
     75 (The paper that accompanied Dr Tshilolo’s talk, which was published in
     76 The New England Journal of Medicine roughly one month later, began with
     77 the characteristically understated: “Hydroxyurea is an effective
     78 treatment for sickle cell anemia, but few studies have been conducted in
     79 sub-Saharan Africa, where the burden is greatest.”) This study deserved
     80 to be the plenary session. Unlike ever-more-expensive targeted therapies
     81 that benefit a few with rare diseases (I do not disparage these drugs,
     82 far from it, but the contrast is poignant), this is a cheap therapy that
     83 can benefit millions. Recognizing the incredible scientific, political,
     84 and financial maneuvering that led to this study and its positive
     85 outcomes, as the day went on my initial elation turned to depression,
     86 then to anger. That this study happened at all is a triumph, that it
     87 took this long to happen is a tragedy.
     88     </p>
     89     <p>
     90      So I sat in my hotel room, furious, imagining, lost.
     91     </p>
     92     <p>
     93      I was trained as an anthropologist and activist at the same time I
     94 was trained as a scientist, and here was a disturbing revelation that
     95 seemed to fit squarely in my Venn Diagram, but what I could do about it,
     96 how I could make a difference, how I could even know where to start,
     97 escaped me. Eventually the sun surprised me, and the next day took me
     98 (thankfully, there were some less-electrifying talks to sleep through
     99 later that day).
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