National Blood Clot Alliance Board Member Recognized as World Thrombosis Day 2021 Ambassador of the Year

October 11, 2021

Todd Robertson Receives Prestigious Award for Long-Time Thrombosis Advocacy Efforts

CHAPEL HILL, NC, USA, OCTOBER 11, 2021 — The International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis (ISTH) and National Blood Clot Alliance (NBCA) today announced that NBCA Board Member Todd Robertson has been selected as the World Thrombosis Day 2021 Ambassador of the Year.

The campaign selected Robertson for the award in recognition of his extraordinary commitment to achieving the mission of the World Thrombosis Day campaign and for raising awareness about thrombosis through patient support and education.

Robertson, who lives in Iowa, U.S., is a six-time blood clot survivor who suffers from a clotting condition called Factor V Leiden. Following his multiple diagnoses, Robertson created a blood clot support group on Facebook to help other thrombosis patients and survivors. Today, Robertson is an administrator and moderator of six patient support groups on social media totaling more than 40,000 members.

Robertson currently serves on the NBCA Board of Directors and is a member of the NBCA’s Sports and Wellness Institute.

“NBCA strongly believes that more patient involvement will move us all one step closer to closing the blood clot information gap, and Todd is the perfect patient advocate to lead that effort,” said Leslie Lake, President of the NBCA. “We could not be more proud of Todd’s appointment as the newest World Thrombosis Day Ambassador. Todd works tirelessly to spread blood clot awareness and we know he will make a huge impact in this role.”

In addition to his digital outreach, Robertson organizes local awareness activities in his home state of Iowa, including a pulmonary embolism survivor bike ride, “Climb for Clots” event and lunch-and-learn events at local businesses.

“It is a great privilege to recognize Todd Robertson for this prestigious award,” said Prof. Beverley Hunt, OBE, chair of the World Thrombosis Day Steering Committee. “The World Thrombosis Day award program is among our most important initiatives as it provides the campaign an opportunity to recognize the tremendous work of our thrombosis patient advocates and organizations.”

Robertson was selected following a rigorous review by an award selection sub-group of the World Thrombosis Day Steering Committee. The final award recipients were selected by committee members with no affiliation to the candidates.

To learn more about World Thrombosis Day, visit www.worldthrombosisday.org. To learn more about the NBCA, visit www.stoptheclot.org.

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About World Thrombosis Day

Launched in 2014 and held annually on 13 October, World Thrombosis Day (WTD) aims to increase public, healthcare professional and health care systems’ awareness of thrombosis and, ultimately, to reduce deaths and disabilities from thromboembolic disease through a greater awareness of its causes, risk factors, signs and symptoms, and evidence-based prevention and treatment. WTD’s mission supports the World Health Assembly’s global target of reducing premature deaths by non-communicable disease by 25 percent by 2025, as well as the World Health Organization’s Thirteenth General Programme of Work 2019–2023, the Montevideo Roadmap 2018-2030 on NCDs and the Political Declaration of UNGA’ Third High-level Meeting on NCDs. Visit www.worldthrombosisday.org for more information and to get involved.

About the International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis (ISTH)

Founded in 1969, the ISTH is the leading worldwide not-for-profit organization dedicated to advancing the understanding, prevention, diagnosis and treatment of thrombotic and bleeding disorders. ISTH is an international professional membership organization with more than 7,000 clinicians, researchers and educators working together to improve the lives of patients in more than 100 countries around the world. Among its highly regarded activities and initiatives are education and standardization programs, research activities, meetings and congresses, peer-reviewed publications, expert committees and World Thrombosis Day on 13 October. Visit ISTH online at www.isth.org.

Media Inquiries:

Sarah Orzach

Stanton Communications

sorzach@stantoncomm.com

 

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