Meredith A. Cowden Foundation
A place for information, support, and shared connection around
Graft vs. Host Disease (GVHD)
What We Do
We’re a resource for anyone and everyone who is living with, affected by, or treating GVHD—survivors, caretakers, healthcare professionals, researchers, and advocates alike.…a community bonded by a common cause: creating a better quality of life and future for people living with GVHD.
Connecting Communities for a Common Cause
Sharing Research and Information for those working with and impacted by GVHD
Patients & Caregivers
Physicians
Pharmaceuticals
What is Graft Vs. Host Disease?
Graft vs. Host Disease (GVHD) is a common complication after a stem cell or bone marrow transplant from another person. Immune cells (white blood cells) in the donated marrow or stem cells (the graft) recognize the recipient (the host) as “foreign.” The transplanted immune cells then attack the host’s cells. GVHD presents itself in many ways — some acute, some chronic, sadly sometimes fatal. An estimated 50 percent of all leukemia and other blood cancer patients contract GvHD following their transplant. A prominent physician once stated that with a Bone Marrow Transplant, a patient trades one disease that will kill you (leukemia) for another disease that might kill you (GVHD).
Latest Information
Meet Our New Executive Director, Lamekia Davis
For Lamekia Davis, assuming the role of executive director of the Meredith A. Cowden Foundation is a natural evolution of her life-long passion to help others that took hold when she was just a child. “When I was 11 years old, my mom was diagnosed with stage IV breast...
Leadership Update
Since the Foundation’s inception in 2007, the Cowden family’s multi-faceted understanding and lived experience with GVHD—both from the patient and caregiver standpoint—has informed the direction of the Foundation both through our founders, Gerry & Marti Cowden,...
Gerald W. Cowden Founder and Chair Emeritus, Meredith A. Cowden Foundation
Gerald W. Cowden Founder and Chair Emeritus, Meredith A. Cowden Foundation Gerald "Gerry" W. Cowden is a retired Cleveland-based attorney whose four-decade legal career focused on entrepreneurs, growing businesses, and the investors who support them. He received his...
Join Us & Donate Today
Help us connect people to the help they deserve. Your support is more than a donation, it is an investment in the lives of children and adults struggling with GvHD. Join us and fund groundbreaking research to discover a cure for this devasting disease.
