Opinion: New attacks on the drug industry would have made my breakthrough sickle cell treatment impossible
I was born in Alabama in the Jim Crow South, one of eight siblings in a hard-working Black farming community. Our family doctor, a leading figure in the community, inspired me to follow in his footsteps and help people in need.
Years later, while working as a physician in Massachusetts, I was appalled to observe how many medicines failed to benefit society’s most vulnerable, in particular people of color. I soon shifted my career into drug development, because I felt I could improve health care on a bigger scale through innovation.
