MEREDITH A

The Meredith A. Cowden Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit that was started by Gerald and Marti Cowden in 2007, six years after their daughter, Meredith, received a Bone Marrow Transplant for Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML), and subsequently developed Graft vs. Host Disease (GVHD). The foundation was created to increase education and support for patients, as well as to promote research and novel treatments for GVHD... 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,..

Primary location: Akron United States