HoG Sponsors Two Judith Graham Pool Fellows

By Trish Dominic, CEO

In December of 2013, Hemophilia of Georgia committed funding to sponsor two Judith Graham Pool Fellowships for the National Hemophilia Foundation. NHF’s premier fellowship program is named in honor of Dr. Judith Graham Pool. Established in 1972, the Judith Graham Pool Postdoctoral Research Fellowship program has provided a long legacy of support for basic science and pre-clinical research in bleeding disorders. In 1965, Dr. Pool discovered a method of extracting clotting factor from human plasma to formulate cryoprecipitate. This breakthrough opened the door to a series of research developments that would revolutionize treatment for hemophilia and ultimately lead to its current management through recombinant replacement factor therapies. These fellowships attract young physicians to work in bleeding disorders and hopefully generate new treatment modalities.

We have traditionally named our Judith Graham Pool Fellowships in honor of people who have dedicated their career or volunteer time to HoG’s success. One of our fellowships will be named in honor of Rueleen Kapsch, RN, Quality Assurance Nurse at HoG, who retired on December 20, 2013.  Rueleen is only the second person to retire from HoG, having begun her career in bleeding disorders at Emory in 1990.  She worked at Emory when Dr. Beverly Bell was the pediatric hematologist.  After Emory, she came to to HoG, initially working part-time and then full- time, spending the past sixteen years devoted to HoG clients and staff.

Rueleen was the lead Camp Wannaklot nurse for over ten years, ensuring that our medical lodge is prepared to assist with the many bumps and bruises that occur at camp.  She has taught every new staff member we have hired, including our nurses, everything there is to know about hemophilia and bleeding disorders.  She has been a wonderful nurse and resource for our clients, filling in as an outreach nurse when staff takes vacation.  Our clients and staff admire and respect Rueleen for her outstanding knowledge and passion for HoG and the bleeding disorder community.  Upon her recent retirement, we informed Rueleen that we named a fellowship in honor of her career.

The other fellowship will be named in honor of Bob and Margaret Carton.  Bob and Margaret served on the Boards of the Georgia Chapter of the National Hemophilia Foundation and Hemophilia of Georgia.  Bob is an emeritus Board member and Margaret left the Board when the Board adopted a governance model that precluded family members from serving on the Board together.  When the agency moved to a governance model for HoG’s Board, Bob became our first Chief Governance Officer. These two people have been by our side since the late 1980s, volunteering, recruiting volunteers, working on the Board and chairing Board committees.  Their wisdom, guidance and leadership have helped this organization survive tough times and achieve many successes.  We are very fortunate to have had them by our side over the years and we highly value their commitment to HoG.