Why We Are Here
We believe that everyone deserves to live a happy, healthy life. Whether you or your child or someone else that you know is dealing with MDS, we strive to be that backbone for you. That's why we're dedicated to providing you resources and support to help your through this process. Often times, many people who are dealing with MDS report feeling aline and don't have much resources avaiable to understand what is going. We also aim in helping and connecting with researchers and other academic scientists so that we can ultimately one day find a cure for MDS.
Meet Our Board
Inga Hofmann, MD
Founder, Board President
Dr. Inga Hofmann is an Associate Professor in the Division of Pediatric Hematology, Oncology, and Bone Marrow Transplant at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, where she is the Director of our Pediatric Bone Marrow Transplant Program. Dr. Hofmann earned her medical degree from Albert Ludwigs University of Freiburg, Germany, and completed her residency at the University of California San Francisco. Dr. Hofmann completed pediatric hematology/oncology fellowships at Dana-Farber/Boston Children’s Cancer and Blood Disorders Center. Furthermore, she completed a fellowship in hematopathology at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston and served as a staff in Pediatric Hematopathology at Boston Children’s Hospital.
Dr. Hofmann has a long-standing interest in pediatric myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) and has been mentored by global leaders and pioneers in the field early in her career. Dr. Hofmann is well recognized for her national and international expertise in pediatric MDS, myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPN) and bone marrow failure (BMF) and frequently gets approached for consultation by patients and physicians from all over the world.
Dr. Hofmann is passionate about advancing research and treatments for patients with pediatric MDS and is known for providing holistic and compassionate care for her patients.
Together with Jennifer Vargas, a patient’s mother, and Dr. Lipton she founded the Global Pediatric MDS Initiative, Inc in 2018 with the goal to transform the way physicians, scientists, and patients work together through global research collaboration, data sharing, education, and family support and cure pediatric MDS.
Cassie Goldrick
Board Member, Director of Patient Advocacy and Family Support
Cassie Goldrick is a proud mother of three children along with her husband Todd. Cassie is active in two non profits;
End 68 Hours of Hunger and serves on the board for Pediatric MDS. Cassie has a passion for helping patients and their families during diagnosis. She is zealous along with the other board members to narrow the gap between physicians and patients. As a mother of a pediatric MDS patient, Cassie knows the struggles and disruptions it can have on the entire family. She wants to provide support, sense of community, and resources to families.
Jeff Lipton, MD/PhD
Co-Founder, Board Secretary
Jeffrey M. Lipton, MD, PhD, is the Chief of Hematology-Oncology and Stem Cell Transplantation at the Steven and Alexandra Cohen Children’s Medical Center of New York, Frances and Thomas Gambino Professor of Hematology/Oncology, Professor of Pediatrics and Molecular Medicine, Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell
and Professor, Institute of Molecular Medicineā€‹, Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research,
He holds a BA from Queens College, City University of New York, a PhD in Chemistry from Syracuse University and an MD degree, magna cum laude, from Saint Louis University Medical School. He did his Pediatric internship and residency training at the Children’s Hospital, Boston, MA and his Pediatric Hematology-Oncology fellowship training at the Children’s Hospital and the Sidney Farber Cancer Institute (now DFCI) in Boston. Dr Lipton is a Past-President of the American Society of Pediatric Hematology-Oncology (ASPHO). His clinical interest and his research interest is bone marrow failure, in particular, Diamond Blackfan anemia (DBA) and myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS)
Todd Goldrick
Board Treasurer
Todd Goldrick is a Father of 3 wonderful children (Lydia 13) (Launa 12) (Nolan 11) and husband of Cassie Goldrick. Todd is active in two different rare disease organizations that include Alport syndrome and active board member of Pediatric MDS serving as the patient advocate and Treasurer. In 2014 he had a successful kidney transplant from a dear friend. His passion is to help bring awareness to living kidney donations and bone marrow transplants. Watching his daughter deal with pediatric MDS and undergoing a bone marrow transplant is something that will always inspire him to share his daughter's story in hopes that it will inspire others to advocate for rare diseases like pediatric MDS.
