OUR MISSION:
To bridge the knowledge gap between sickle cell disease and reproductive health issues by listening and supporting the health experiences of women and girls.
SWAG RESEARCH LAB HISTORY
In 2022, Dr. Shameka Poetry Thomas, PhD established the SICKLE CELL WOMEN AND GIRLS (SWAG) RESEARCH LAB [formerly known as the SWAG Project]. Prior to establishing the SWAG Research Lab, Dr. Thomas spent nearly five years collecting data on Black women’s reproductive health experiences across the United States and Ghana, West Africa. Dr. Thomas has trained over 10 research assistants and a variety of pre-med and graduate students in conducting biomedical research in maternal-child health and reproductive genetics. Dr. Thomas also has supervised several student’s undergraduate these and master’s theses throughout the USA, South Africa, Kenya, Ghana, and Europe. Dr. Thomas founded the SWAG Research Lab to bridge the complex knowledge gaps between reproductive health and sickle cell disease for women, adolescent girls, and their families.
OUR APPROACH
We are dedicated to ensuring that our women and girls are centered in research, have access to reproductive & maternal health resources, and feel equally supported alongside healthcare workers. With community-engagement at the center of our work, our purpose is to listen and support the health experiences of our patients during all steps of the research process. Research is a means to shift implementation, health policy and ultimately healthcare systems. We seek to shift healthcare systems by developing evidence-based comprehensive care models that will sustain wellness-driven integrated care for our women and girls.
Community Engagement
- We take the time to build up our girls and women as we are building our research.
- We seek to create spaces that bring together patients, their communities. We’d like our patients to feel seen & be heard with like-minded individuals.
- Our patients are at the heart of our work and they fuel our research. We are intentional about including them at each step of the research process.
- In our research, we incorporate patient perceptions, experiences, needs, and dreams of our girls and women.
Patient-Centered Education & Tools for Patients, Caregivers, Healthcare Providers, Clinicians and Practitioners
- Our patients are adolescents, young adults, teen moms, older moms, women, elders and grandmothers!
- We share health education for our patients and their surrounding community pertaining to sickle cell disease and trait; mental wellness; and reproductive, maternal and child health.
- We provide patient-centered training for our healthcare providers, clinicians and practitioners.
- Our education centers the experiences, needs, and dreams of our patients.
Evidence-Based Comprehensive Care Models with Integrated Care & Mental Wellness
- Currently, sickle cell women and girls seek care from multiple providers (e.g., primary care provider, hematologist, obstetrician-gynecologist, herbalist, naturopathic doctor) that do not communicate together.
- Patients face the largest burden telling and re-telling their healthcare experiences to all their providers.
- We are designing new healthcare models that include all pathways of care, integrated into one system that can be implemented in the healthcare setting.
- We emphasize mental health resources to lift the burden and restore wellness to patients.
SCIENTIFIC BRIEFS
Disclaimer: This work is the sole intellectual property of the Sickle Cell Women and Girls Research Lab, funded through various academic grants and donations. The information on this website is based on the founder's and coauthors views; and are not reflective of the sponsoring institutions. Citation: Thomas, S.P., Ranson, T.M., MPH, Goldenberg, L. (2025). What is Sickle Cell Disease? (Vol. 1, Issue 1) [Research brief). THE SICKLE CELL WOMEN AND GIRLS RESEARCH LAB. http://swagresearchlab.org/
ABOUT DR. SHAMEKA POETRY THOMAS, PhD
Global Maternal-Child Health Scientist & Medical Sociologist
Dr. SHAMEKA POETRY THOMAS, PhD is the founder of the SICKLE CELL WOMEN & GIRLS (SWAG) RESEARCH LAB, which was spearheaded during her data collection at the Ghana Institute of Clinical Genetics and the University of Ghana. Dr. Thomas is an Assistant Professor, research faculty, and provost scholar on the tenure track at The Ohio State University’s College of Medicine in the Department of Biomedical Education and Anatomy’s Center for Bioethics. Dr. Thomas completed postdoctoral fellowships at the National Human Genome Research Institute (2020-2022) and the Fogarty Global Health fellowship at Harvard University, School of Public Health. Dr. Thomas is an alum of Spelman College, graduating with distinguished honors in global health research.
She also worked for a few years as a Research Associate at the American Institutes for Research in San Mateo, California before earning her PhD at University of Miami, graduating with the Most Outstanding Dissertation Award. Her research focuses on global bioethics, noninvasive prenatal testing, reproductive genetics, and sickle cell disease.
Currently, Dr. Thomas also serves as an editor for Springer Nature’s Maternal and Child Health Journal, the co-chair for the Healthcare Ethics and Medical Humanities Groups | ASBH, and as a medical advisory board member for the National Sickle Cell Reproductive Health Education Directive. She was recently nominated for 40-under-40 Health Leaders 2025 Award for Scientific Impact.
Frequently Asked Questions:
1. How did SWAG Research Lab obtain its name?
The acronym “SWAG” is also an affirmation of what it means to be alive with wellness and confidence, as an action phrase to inspire feeling “seen” and “heard” beyond one’s health condition. Dr. Thomas was inspired to create and apply the name ‘SWAG” as an affirmation of sickle cell wellness and health during her data collections in Ghana, West Africa.
2. Where are you from? Where did you go to for school?
I am born and raised in Miami, Florda, USA. I am a 1st generation college graduate and graduated with honors from Spelman College (a historically Black college for women) in Atlanta, Georgia. During my time at Spelman, I also studied abroad at University of Cape Town, South Africa and attended University of California-Berkeley as a distinguished global health scholar and exchange student. After graduating with my bachelors, I worked for 2 years at the American Institutes for Research in Georgetown, Washington DC and relocated to their office in Silicon Valley, California. Afterwards, I decided to become a research consultant at a nonprofit research firm for one year. Eventually, these research experiences led me back to desiring to earn my PhD. Thus, in a full circle moment, I went on to eventually completed my PhD in August 2020 at the University of Miami, graduating with honors. My dissertation was nominated for the Most Outstanding Dissertation Award. I enjoy conducting research and it brings me joy and fulfillment to contribution to scientific knowledge as a Black women scholar.
3. What inspires you to do scientific research on maternal-child health and sickle cell disease?
I usually follow a pulse in my gut. Therefore, I strongly believe I was guided to pursue maternal-child health and sickle cell disease. After I gave birth to my daughter (who will be 14 years old soon), I had serious questions about the state of maternal health in the United States. My curiosities kept me up at night, reading about how Black women’s bodies were historically used and exploited by White males to advance the field of obstetrics and gynecologists. Black women’s bodies were cut open without anesthesia (under the notion that Black women were not human enough feel pain). A lot these histories fueled my drive to ask more questions about the complex overlap between maternal health and sickle cell disease. I am a scientific researcher at heart because I never stop asking questions and listening to that pulse within to discover pathways toward answers.
4. What is your favorite way to balance health and wellness for yourself?
My favorite way to balance my mental health and wellness is to slow down and practice the freedom of leisure. I love to sit on my yoga mat with a cup of Chamomile tea and polish my toes. I also taking a walk through a quiet, cozy park and dancing to Salsa or Afrobeats music for joy.
5. What is your favorite song?
I love music, so it is hard to pick just one song. I have songs for every moment of the day and for every emotion I feel. Perhaps, one of my favorite songs just becauseis called “Feeling Good” by Nina Simone.
6. What is the next country you would love to travel to?
Ah! I love traveling! I am so happy to say that I have completed one of my lifegoals and traveled to all 4 regions of the entire African continent (e.g. North Africa, Southern Africa, East Africa, and West Africa). One of my favorite places I truly enjoyed traveling to is perhaps Cuba. I loved Cuba, so much! Hmmm, the next country I would love to travel to is Brazil.
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