Shameka Poetry Thomas, assistant professor and provost scholar, The Ohio State University College of Medicine, has been awarded a 2026-2027 Fulbright U.S. Scholar award to Jamaica to research “Sickle Cell Disease and Reproductive Health among Women and Girls: A Comparative Analysis between Jamaica, Ghana, and the United States.” From January to July 2027, Thomas will be based at the University of the West Indies, Caribbean Research Institute's Sickle Cell Clinic.
“My Fulbright will focus on doing a replication study from my NIH Fogarty Global Health Fellowship in Ghana to this study within Jamaica. The goal is to investigate the complex overlap between sickle cell disease and reproductive health on a global scale between Jamaica, Ghana and the United States with the goal of informing global health interventions and policy recommendations to reduce adverse outcomes on sickle cell disease and maternal-child health,” Thomas explained.
A global maternal-child health scientist and medical sociologist, Thomas is determined to raise sickle cell awareness. Her research explores how patients on a national and global scale—especially Black women and families—understand and experience new reproductive and genetic technologies, such as noninvasive prenatal testing for sickle cell disease.
“I would like to honor the patients living with sickle cell disease, many of whom (in my research studies) are women, girls and mothers, who have generously shared their reproductive health narratives and stories with me and our research team. We are so grateful to highlight patient perspectives regarding this important work on a global scale,” Thomas noted.
“I could not pursue this study without my research teams. We have data from more than 75 patient cases of women and girls with and without sickle cell disease across the United States and Ghana, West Africa. I am thankful for their genuine teamwork, kindness, and sincere resolve to raise sickle cell awareness across the nation and the world,” Thomas said.
In 2022 Thomas founded the Sickle Cell Women and Girls Research Lab at Ohio State College of Medicine, Department of Biomedical Education and Anatomy, Division of Bioethics. As a Fogarty Scholar at the Harvard School of Public Health, Department of Global Health (2022-2023), Thomas conducted sickle cell research at the University of Ghana and the Ghana Institute of Clinical Genetics. She is editor of Springer Nature's Maternal and Child Health Journal.
If you would like to connect with Thomas to share any research contacts interested sickle cell or reproductive health genetics, feel free to reach out, as she welcomes collaborations and connections, email: shameka.thomas@osumc.edu.
Fulbright
The Fulbright Scholar Program is administered by the Institute of International Education and is sponsored by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the U.S. Department of State.
For more information about the Fulbright Scholar Program contact Joanna Kukielka-Blaser. View a complete list of Ohio State Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program recipients.