Sickle Cell Disease (3 of 4 with Yemi)

Oluyemi 'Yemi' Moses was born in Durham, NC, USA to parents who immigrated from Nigeria. She was the middle child in a family with seven children; four of those children were born with sickle cell disease, and Yemi was one of them. Throughout her life she has stood firm on the belief that sickle cell would not diminish her life, and her life experiences attest to that.

She graduated from North Carolina Central University in 1998 with a B.S. degree in Human Sciences and moved to Brooklyn, NY, where she furthered her education and became a certified Special Education teacher. While in NY, Yemi taught Special Education to middle school students; she was an assistant basketball coach and helped to create and coach a cheer-leading squad. She also organized and led an HBCU (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) College Tour for the students at her school, among many other things. Her focus was always on the total child, so although she worked with her students to ensure that they excelled academically, she understood the importance of extracurricular activities and other opportunities for learning. In 2006, Yemi moved to Nigeria where she worked for an NGO (Non Government Organization) and taught at an international school. While in Nigeria, she had the opportunity to experience and understand her culture and this made a tremendous impact on how she views life.

Upon returning to the US, she pursued her interest in clinical research and began assisting with the monitoring of clinical trials. Currently, she is a Senior Clinical Research Associate and has had the privilege to participate in trial studies where study drugs in these studies have been beneficial to the patient population, and subsequently approved by the US Food and Drug Administration. She consistently dedicates herself to her team to ensure that timelines and targets are met and has played a leadership role mentoring junior staff over the last several years. She prides herself in her ability to organize and is very detail oriented.

Of all the challenges Yemi has undertaken, and all the roles she has played, her most pivotal role has been the role of a mother, which she became in her early forties. Yemi enjoys spending time with her daughter and looks forward to the journey of motherhood.

Yemi continually explores her love of traveling and meeting people from different cultures. She has been blessed with the desire and opportunity to travel around the globe, and has many more places that she would love to see as she looks forward to a long and healthy life.