A Public Health and Business School Graduate with Sickle Cell Disease

About this episode: September is Sickle Cell Awareness Month, recognizing a severe disease that affects an estimated 100,000 people in the U.S. In this episode: Shayla Ellington, who lives with Hemoglobin SC disease, shares how her diagnosis has shaped her life, how she sees the underfunding of research and treatment, and how she uses her public health and business school training to advocate for a brighter future. Guest: Shayla Ellington, MPH, MBA, is a recent alumna of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Carey Business School. Host: Dr. Josh Sharfstein is distinguished professor of the practice in Health Policy and Management, a pediatrician, and former secretary of Maryland's Health Department. Show links and related content: About Sickle Cell Disease—Sickle Cell Disease Association of America Beyond Gene Therapies: People With Sickle Cell Disease Need Comprehensive Care—Health Affairs Sickle Cell Disease: Genetic Therapies and Treatment Hurdles—Public Health On Call (August 2025) Transcript information: Looking for episode transcripts? Open our podcast on the Apple Podcasts app (desktop or mobile) or the Spotify mobile app to access an auto-generated transcript of any episode. Closed captioning is also available for every episode on our YouTube channel. You can also email [email protected] to request a transcript. AI disclosure (as of September 2026): The conversations you hear on the podcast are happening between real humans, and real humans are developing and researching episodes behind the scenes. In addition to real human audio engineers, Public Health On Call uses AI production tools to assist with the removal of filler words and improve audio quality. If you have any questions about our use of AI, please reach out to [email protected]. Contact us: Have a question about something you heard? Looking for a transcript? Want to suggest a topic or guest? Contact us via email or visit our website. Follow us: @‌PublicHealthPod on Bluesky @‌PublicHealthPod on Instagram @‌JohnsHopkinsSPH on Facebook @‌PublicHealthOnCall on YouTube Here's our RSS feed Note: These podcasts are a conversation between the participants, and do not represent the position of Johns Hopkins University.