
Certified Listener Poet,
Cohort 1 Fall 2021
Mindy Shah grew up near the shores of Lake Erie, in Ohio, and spent much of her childhood tramping around the woods and writing stories she seldom finished. After starting a career in creative writing, an experience of being a patient herself led her to change direction; she completed a postbaccalaureate premedical program at Bryn Mawr College and went on to study medicine, ultimately training in internal medicine, geriatrics, and hospice and palliative medicine.
Mindy lives in Wisconsin with her spouse and daughter. She works full time in medicine alongside her work with TGLP.
What does it mean for people living with Sickle Cell Disease to be seen, heard, and understood? For this person, it meant finding – and using – her voice to advocate for herself and for others.
“I’ve experienced a lot of big losses,” she said, referencing the passing of a grandfather and two uncles who did not survive their cancer diagnoses. “There were others too.”
Professionally, Lacks’ story represents for her the need to critically examine our research infrastructure generally. “We need to pay more attention to the sustainability of research,” she explained. “Private companies benefit from publicly-funded research without a requirement to give back to ensure the viability of future research.”