BCDI Welcomes Dr. Maria Espanol as Staff Hematologist

We are delighted to announce that Maria Espanol, MD, has joined the Bleeding and Clotting Disorders Institute, effective July 5, 2022, as a staff hematologist.

“We are excited to welcome Dr. Espanol to BCDI to better serve the bleeding and clotting disorders community in downstate Illinois,” BCDI Founder, CEO and Chief Medical Officer Dr. Michael Tarantino said. “Dr. Espanol shares our passion to bring expert care to underserved patients who will greatly benefit from her expertise.”

Dr. Espanol is a pediatric hematologist/oncologist that specializes in managing bleeding and clotting disorders and other non-malignant hematological conditions. She joins BCDI after spending the last three years in a hematology and oncology fellowship at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center/Children’s Hospital of New Orleans in Louisiana.

Dr. Espanol received her Doctorate in Medicine from Universidad Iberoamericana in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic and her Master Executive in Hospital Management from Escuela de Organizacion Industrial in Madrid, Spain. She then completed an internship and pediatrics residency at the Nassau University Medical Center in East Meadow, New York.

“I’m excited for the opportunity to take care of patients in an environment that provides integrated, family-orientated care, state-of-the-art medical care, and education for individuals with bleeding and clotting disorders,” Dr. Espanol said, who is fluent in English and Spanish.

Dr. Espanol will see pediatric and adult patients at the Bleeding and Clotting Disorders Institute at 427 W. Northmoor Road in Peoria and at our many outreach locations.

Dr. Roberts helps publish GOAL-Hem study

BCDI’s Dr. Jonathan Roberts played a key role in the creation, validation and development of GOAL-Hem. The study’s goal is to enhance patient-centered hemophilia treatment center care, improve clinical studies and serve as a tool to gather real-world evidence.

Dr. Roberts coordinated and facilitated the in-person patient focus groups for GOAL-Hem at BCDI, while BCDI Program Director Sarah Gonzales assisted in the study’s successful coordination, data collection and analysis.

Check out the GOAL-Hem study for yourself, published by Wiley Online Library: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/hae.14608

BCDI Open House

Save The Date: Open House

Friday, September 10th, 3-5 PM

427 W Northmoor Rd
Peoria, IL 61614

We are excited to invite you to the GRAND OPENING of our new building! We hope you’ll join us September 10th from 3-5pm as we celebrate the grand opening!

Thank you for your continued support as we expand to better serve you. We hope to see you there!

Camp Warren Jyrch 2021

Get out your playing cards and your favorite game pieces for our 2021 Virtual Camp Warren Jyrch

Saturday, July 24th and Sunday, July 25th

CWJ Land!

On Saturday, July 24th 1:00 PM – 5:00 PM CT and Sunday, July 25th from 1:00 PM – 5:00 PM CT we will get together – through Zoom – for a funfilled weekend of board games and board game themed activities! Any child with a bleeding disorder, or sibling of someone with a bleeding disorder,between the ages of 7-17, who lives in Illinois or a surrounding state is encouraged to register!

Once we review and accept your application(s) we will send you a confirmation with detailed instructions and an agenda. We will also send a box, prior to camp, with all of the supplies your camper will need to participate in the activities we have planned!

CAMPER AND COUNSELOR APPLICATIONS ARE NOW OPEN AND WILL BE ACCEPTED UNTIL JUNE 21st @ 4:00 PM CT.

We hope to see you there!

To apply and to learn more about Camp Warren Jyrch please visit www.bdai.org/campwarrenjyrch

If you have any questions – please do not hesitate to reach out to Noelle at nsimpson@bdai.org or at (312) 216-1142

Hemophilia… The Female Connection

You’re Invited.

Join us for an upcoming event.

Hemophilia… The Female Connection

Presenter: Jonathan Roberts, MD

Host: Dana Clemmans

Thursday, March 25, 2021
6:00pm – 7:00pm CDT

To Join

Participants can join the day of the event by clicking the link below:

Login (once you login, please use initials)

Questions?

If you have questions about this program, please call Tracy Perkins at (309) 692-5337 or email tracy@ilbcdi.org

Gateway Connection – Winter 2021

Missouri Advocacy Day

Due to the ongoing COVID-19 Pandemic, Missouri Advocate Day will be entirely virtual this year. This will include virtual training and virtual meetings with legislators. While our virtual Advocacy Day is limited to residents of the State of Missouri, all community members are invited to join us for our virtual Advocacy training.

Advocacy Training: Wednesday, March 10th 7:00pm

Advocacy Day: Thursday, March 11th, meeting times TBD

Also in this issue:

A message from the Executive Director, Bridget Tyrey
Calendar of Events
Fall Membership Meeting
Ugly Sweater Holiday Cookie Extravaganza
Young Adult Virtual Events
GHA’s Academic Scholarship Information
Thanks to our Volunteers!
Holiday Trivia Night Fundraiser
Ending the Cycle of Financial Struggle
About Brittany Slossberg
Your Guide to Strength Training
Donations, Honorariums, and Memorials
GHA’s Adult Retreat

Celebrating World Hemophilia Day

Each year, on April 17th, we aim to bring awareness about hemophilia and other bleeding disorders to the forefront worldwide – and within our own personal circles of influence. The theme of World Hemophilia Day 2020 is “GET+INVOLVED” and serves as a call to action for patients, providers, family members and corporate partners to drive forward the message of Treatment for All.

Even though our connected world offers great access to information about inherited bleeding disorders and treatment, we know that there is still a lack of knowledge among the general population.

As with many activities today, our recognition must be done in a way that keeps families and communities safe. Here are some ideas for celebrating World Hemophilia Day 2020, even as you practice social distancing:

Learn more about Frank Schnabel’s vision to advance treatment for all through the World Federation for Hemophilia (WFH).

Promote Hemophilia awareness with a few keystrokes or clicks. Get the 2020 Social Media Toolkit here and use the following hashtags:

#WorldHemophiliaDay
#WHD2020
#LightItUpRed

Wear red in solidarity with other hemophilia warriors and advocates. Even if you’re following a stay-at-home order, you’l feel a sense of kinship knowing that others throughout the world are also wearing red – and if you’re doing a video chat, your red will make a statement across the miles.

Get kids involved with the In-HemoAction Card Game and learning activity. Download a PDF which includes cards you can cut out or purchase a game box online.

On April 17th, letters collectively celebrate the advancements in bleeding disorders treatment and continue to move awareness forward, while staying safe in our homes so we can flatten the curve together. If you have questions about COVID-19 for individuals with bleeding disorders, please call our office and our team will be happy to help.  Be safe. Stay healthy!

Dr. Roberts publishes an article “Evaluation of Abnormal Bleeding in Children” in Pediatric Annals

Dr. Jonathan Roberts, BCDI’s Associate Medical Director recently published an article that shed light on the challenge of diagnosing children with bleeding disorders in his article “Evaluation of Abnormal Bleeding in Children”. The article was published in Pediatric Annals and explains the challenges pediatricians and primary care providers face as they evaluate care for children with unusual bleeding symptoms. Some of those considerations are the age of the child, family history, timing and severity of the patient’s symptoms. The article provides an algorithm for providers to guide an initial evaluation before considering referral to their local coagulation hematologist.

Abnormal bleeding or bruising is a relatively common clinical concern, frequently causing parents to seek care from their children’s primary care provider. Although ecchymosis from playful trauma, occasional epistaxis, and heavy menstrual bleeding around the time of menarche and beyond are common occurrences, it can be difficult for pediatricians and other primary care providers to determine if their patient has age-appropriate symptoms versus abnormal or excessive bleeding. This review discusses considerations for abnormal bleeding in pediatrics and discusses an initial approach for evaluation of hemostasis in a child with bleed symptoms.

Dr. Michael Tarantino, Chief Medical Officer of BCDI was published in the Journal of Medical Economics

Dr. Michael Tarantino was published in the Journal of Medical Economics for the study “Primary immune thrombocytopenia in US clinical practice: incidence and healthcare burden in first 12 months following diagnosis.”

The Bleeding and Clotting Disorders Institute is proud to announce that Dr. Michael Tarantino, Chief Medical Officer, is an author on this recent publication in the Journal of Medical Economics. Little is known about the number of incidence of ITP in the US and even less is known about the current healthcare burden of ITP.

The study used retrospective data from two private US healthcare claim databases (2010-2016) to identify people with newly diagnosed ITP. The patients ages and sex were tracked and then the summarized healthcare utilization and expenditures during the first 12 months after ITP diagnosis was analyzed. It became apparent that the annual incidence of ITP in the US was 6.1 per 100,000 people.

The findings suggest that nearly 20,000 children and adults are newly diagnosed with ITP each year in the US. This is substantially higher than previously reported. The patients requiring formal medical care, the economic burden during the first 12 months is high with the estimated US expenditures totaling over $400 million.