Physicians
GVHD Research and Patient Care
Partners in GVHD Care
At the Meredith A. Cowden Foundation, we believe collaboration and freely sharing best practices are benchmarks of exceptional medicine. Through connection and continued education, we can all learn from one another—doctors, advanced practice providers, nurses, researchers, pharmacists, patients, and caregivers—to collectively improve people with GVHD’s quality of life and outcomes.
We offer numerous ways to expand clinical knowledge and learn firsthand from people living with the disease.
National GVHD Symposium
Our National GVHD Symposium brings the best and brightest healthcare providers and researchers in the field together for collaborative learning, directly alongside people living with GVHD and their caregivers. This unique format provides the opportunity for patients to learn from experts in the field and for those experts to in turn learn from them.
If you’d like to refer back to our past Symposium presentations, our archives contain a wide variety of lectures on topics related to the disease.
If you’d like to join us for our upcoming Symposium, please watch this page for updates.
If you’re interested in speaking at a future conference, please email us directly at info@cowdenfoundation.org.
Medical Advisory Board
You know better than anyone—there’s never a one-size-fits-all approach to treating a patient with GVHD, and determining the best course of action is often incredibly challenging. It can feel like the goalpost is constantly moving.
Our medical advisory board is chock full of GVHD experts, each of them eager to share their knowledge and best practices with fellow clinicians.
Physician Resources
American Society for Transplantation & Cellular Therapy
The leading professional organization for hematopoietic cell transplantation and cellular therapy, offering clinical guidelines, education, research, and professional resources.
ASTCT Practice Guidelines / App
A mobile reference providing quick access to evidence-based ASTCT clinical practice guidelines, recommendations, and treatment tools for transplant and cellular therapy clinicians.
Blood Cancer United
A national nonprofit offering education, advocacy, peer support, and resources for patients, caregivers, and healthcare professionals affected by blood cancers and bone marrow transplantation.
Blood & Marrow Transplant Information Network (BMT InfoNet)
A trusted source of practical educational materials, webinars, survivorship resources, and patient support focused on bone marrow, stem cell transplantation, and GVHD.
Cell Therapy Transplant Canada (CTTC)
A national organization dedicated to advancing hematopoietic stem cell transplantation and cellular therapy through clinical standards, education, collaboration, and research across Canada.
National Bone Marrow Transplant Link (nbmtLINK)
A nonprofit providing educational resources, emotional support, financial guidance, and survivorship programs for transplant recipients, caregivers, and healthcare professionals.
NMDP
A global leader in stem cell transplantation that connects patients with donors, supports transplant centers, advances research, and provides comprehensive educational resources for clinicians and patients.
GVHD Alliance
A collaborative initiative focused on improving awareness, education, diagnosis, and management of Graft Versus Host Disease through resources for both healthcare professionals and patients.
GVHD Ambassador Program
A deep, shared understanding and mutual respect between someone living with GVHD and the providers treating them—built through open communication and active listening—is the key to long-term success.
“Giving survivors a seat at the table has always been a top priority for me,” explains Foundation executive director and GVHD survivor Meredith Cowden. “As both a clinical counselor and someone who has decades of lived experience with this disease, I understand how important it is for both sides—patients and providers—to listen to each other with the intent to truly understand where the other is coming from. Doctors always want what’s best for their patients, but sometimes the patient has a very different idea of what that looks like than their doctor. Understanding what’s most important to a patient helps clinicians recommend a treatment protocol that someone is more likely to adhere to.”
Finding common ground—and working from shared priorities—is essential, but limited appointment blocks present a unique challenge to fostering this type of connection.
We’ve compiled resources to aid in making the most of your opportunities to communicate with patients, and them with you, here.
Our On the RISE GVHD Ambassador Program also gives providers a way to better understand the inner workings of someone living with GVHD’s world—and what they most want doctors to know—outside the confines of a medical office.