| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Anne
Garrett Addison |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Anne Garrett Addison
45 - Lake Stevens, WA
|
After her own near-death experience with preeclampsia during childbirth, Anne Garrett launched the Preeclampsia Foundation (PF). PF's mission is to reduce maternal/infant illness and death due to preeclampsia by supporting research, raising public awareness, and helping women access safe reproductive technology, support, and care.
Preeclampsia is the leading known cause of prematurity, and a leading cause of women and their babies dying in pregnancy. In the U.S. it's as common as breast cancer, but when Anne started PF, it was listed as a "Rare & Orphaned Disease" by the National Institutes of Health. Not rare, but orphaned, because there was no organization working to find a cure, raise awareness, and provide support. The Preeclampsia Foundation stepped in to do so.
Anne recruited top doctors in maternal fetal medicine to the medical board and developed a web site for the foundation. Thanks to her efforts, preeclampsia.org is now the most popular preeclampsia site, and cited by CNN, Reuters and the New York Times as "the" source on preeclampsia. Families and women in crisis share their stories and provide a community of support through PF's online forum, which features over 21,000 topic areas and 5,000 members.
Anne co-founded Interprea, the first international alliance of preeclampsia advocacy organizations. She also has worked to position the issue of preeclampsia before major donors, including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the MacArthur Foundation. The Gates Foundation went on to sponsor PF's International Preeclampsia Summit, which brought together leading preeclampsia experts and representatives from global health organizations. The meeting focused on identifying and prioritizing appropriate ways to intervene and reduce maternal illness and death due to preeclampsia.
That's why Anne is a 2007
Woman Of Worth. |
|
|
 |
"It was a life-changing event."
Hear Anne discuss her work
|
|
|
|
|
|
ANNE'S DIARY
|
|
|
|
ORGANIZATION
|
|
|
