People with sickle cell disease, their families, healthcare professionals, and the public are invited to the 2018 annual Sickle Cell Symposium at 6 p.m. on Sept. 18 at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS). The symposium is free.
The topic of the symposium is “Sickle Cell: Mind, Body, and Soul.”
Meeting on the 12th floor of the UAMS Jackson T. Stephens Spine & Neurosciences Institute, the Sickle Cell Symposium is presented by Future Builders Inc. and Arkansas Black Nurses Association in collaboration with the UAMS Adult Sickle Cell Clinical Program.
Registration is required. To register in advance for the symposium, and for more information, go to sicklecell.uams.edu, or email Leigh Ann Wilson at LAWilson2@uams.edu. Registration and networking at the symposium will start at 5 p.m.
Shamonica Wiggins, a patient living with sickle cell disease, will share the story of her personal journey and her experience with depression. Wiggins is one of the founders of Bold Lips for Sickle Cell.
Rev. Johnny Smith Jr. will be the pastoral speaker at the symposium. He serves as the pastor of Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church in Pine Bluff and as the chaplain for the Pine Bluff Police Department. A certified religious assistant with the Arkansas Department of Correction, Smith is a graduate of the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff and Christian University-Morris Booker College in Dermott.
Leigh Ann Wilson, a licensed clinical social worker, will discuss local resources that can help patients cope with sickle cell disease. She has worked in the UAMS Adult Sickle Cell Clinical Program for four years. Wilson has a master’s degree in social work from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville.