Empowerment Over Fear

How Dr. La’Shardae Scott Is Transforming the Future of Sickle Cell Care, One Family at a Time.

Before she became Dr. La’Shardae Scott, President and CEO of the Scott Center for Observation, Treatment and Transition, she was simply a mother searching for answers. When two of her children were diagnosed with sickle cell disease at birth, the future suddenly became uncertain. Like many parents, she expected guidance from the healthcare system. Instead, she encountered gaps in education, support, and coordinated care that left her feeling alone. Rather than accept those barriers, she transformed them into purpose.

“The reason Scott even exists,” she says, “is because I am the mother of two sickle cell warriors who are thriving and surviving. I wanted to be the person who could remove the barriers for families facing this disease.” That purpose would change not only her family’s future, but the lives of thousands of families throughout Northwest Ohio and beyond.

Originally pursuing a degree in secondary education, Dr. Scott found herself unable to maintain employment as one of her sons was hospitalized more than 50 times during his early childhood. Without the support systems many families rely on, she made a life changing decision. She returned to school. Social work became the bridge between compassion and action. In just seven years, she earned her bachelor’s, master’s, and doctorate degrees, determined to become the advocate she wished had existed when her children were born.

“I was failed as a parent,” she says. “But that failure sparked something in me.” Today, that spark has become one of the region’s leading voices in sickle cell advocacy. What makes the Scott Center unique is its philosophy that patients cannot be separated from the realities of their everyday lives. As a social worker, Dr. Scott doesn’t simply see a diagnosis. She sees parents balancing jobs while caring for hospitalized children, siblings adjusting to disrupted routines, and families navigating school systems, transportation, housing, mental health, and healthcare. “Sickle cell impacts the entire household,” she says. The disease may affect one person physically, but its emotional, financial, and practical effects are felt by everyone who loves them.

“Sickle cell impacts the entire household,” she explains. That perspective has led her to advocate far beyond hospital walls. When her own son accumulated more than 100 hours of missed school because of pain crises that did not always require hospitalization, she began working with educators and healthcare providers to improve protections for students living with chronic illness. To Dr. Scott, treating sickle cell means addressing every barrier standing between patients and healthy lives. Education is another pillar of her mission.

Many people confuse sickle cell disease with sickle cell trait, yet they are very different. Sickle cell disease occurs when a child inherits two affected genes, one from each parent. Individuals with sickle cell trait inherit only one gene and do not develop the disease, but understanding carrier status remains critically important for future family planning. “People can’t make informed decisions if they don’t know their status,” she says. That belief drives her work overseeing newborn screening and education across 11 counties in Northwest Ohio, ensuring families receive information immediately after diagnosis instead of facing uncertainty alone. While education saves lives, Dr. Scott believes another challenge remains even harder to overcome. Stigma.

For decades, many adults living with sickle cell disease have struggled to receive timely pain management because they are too often labeled as drug seeking rather than patients experiencing one of the most painful genetic disorders known to medicine. “It is disheartening that Black and Brown patients have to keep proving their pain,” she says. “Just because someone doesn’t look like they’re suffering doesn’t mean they aren’t fighting for their life.” She notes that many patients spend days managing severe pain at home before seeking emergency care, often arriving only after exhausting every available option. Yet too many still encounter skepticism instead of compassion.

For Dr. Scott, changing that narrative begins with listening. Perhaps nowhere is her philosophy more evident than in the way she raises her own children. She refuses to define them by their diagnosis. They play sports. They swim. They explore life with appropriate precautions, but without fear. “I don’t believe in putting them in a bubble,” she says. “I empower them to do whatever they set their minds to.”

That philosophy was tested one day when her son Emory told a teacher, “You’re not the best advocate for me.” Rather than feeling embarrassed, Dr. Scott felt proud. She had taught him to speak up when he believed his voice wasn’t being heard. “Maybe the delivery surprised them,” she says with a smile, “but I was proud because that’s exactly what I’ve taught him.”That lesson has become the heartbeat of everything she does. Empowerment over fear.

Whether she’s teaching families holistic approaches to pain management before turning to medication, publishing research on food deserts and hospitalization rates, training community health workers nationwide, or mentoring the next generation of social workers, Dr. Scott continues building systems that help patients advocate for themselves.

Her work has expanded beyond Northwest Ohio through national collaborations, research publications, hospital partnerships, and community education. Yet despite growing recognition, her focus remains deeply personal.

“I don’t live with sickle cell, but I see it every day,”

she says. She has witnessed its challenges not only as a clinician and researcher, but as a mother who has spent countless hours beside hospital beds, advocating for her children and helping other families find hope during some of their most difficult moments. Every program, every policy recommendation, and every initiative begins with a simple question. “Would this have helped my own children?” That question keeps her grounded.

Looking ahead, Dr. Scott hopes the organization she built becomes larger than any one individual, including herself. She envisions expanding into new states, developing future leaders, and creating sustainable systems of care that continue long after her own career. “I don’t want to be the person doing this forever,” she says. “I want to inspire others who are just as passionate to continue the work.” It is, perhaps, the greatest measure of leadership. Not creating followers, but creating advocates.

For Dr. La’Shardae Scott, sickle cell disease has never simply been a medical diagnosis. It is a call to educate. To advocate. To challenge assumptions. To replace stigma with compassion. Most importantly, it is a reminder that every patient deserves more than survival. They deserve the opportunity to thrive. That is the legacy she is building. And it all began with one mother who chose empowerment over fear.