Susan Skinner 2009 Memorial Fund Award Winners

The Susan Skinner Memorial Fund (SSMF) offers young female leaders in the bleeding disorders community a chance to expand their knowledge about treatment and care worldwide. This year, two young women will receive SSMF scholarships to attend important international events.

Celia Marina Mendoza Choqque

Celia Marina Mendoza Choqque with WFH president Mark Skinner

Ms. Mendoza Choqque, 20 years old with Type 3 von Willebrand disease (VWD), is a leading member of the Youth Committee of the Associación Peruana de Hemofilia (ASPEH), in Lima, Peru. Despite the demands of her medical course at university, Celia Marina also finds time to organize von Willebrand disease workshops and take on ASPEH secretariat duties. Celia Marina’s personal experience with VWD has fired her passion to help the bleeding disorders community promote improved treatment and care. To boost her efforts, the SSMF scholarship covered the cost of her attendance at the WFH Latin America NMO Advocacy Workshop, held this November in Lima.

Mallory O’Connor

Mallory O'Connor

Mallory O’Connor has been part of the bleeding disorders community her entire life as her father is a person with hemophilia and she herself is a carrier. Growing up, she went to hemophilia camp before becoming a staff member. Even though she has a busy schedule earning a Master’s in Public Health and a certificate in Global Health, Mallory also finds time to be part of the National Youth Leadership Institute (NYLI). In addition, she has participated in meetings, the Teen Retreat, Team Hemophilia, and Washington Day conferences with the National Hemophilia Foundation. Mallory further fulfills her passion for volunteering by working on projects within her local bleeding disorders community. Through these experiences she hopes to provide better and more accessible healthcare to all, on a national and global scale.

November 2009