“The change we’re fighting for will likely not manifest during our time, but we have to believe and act like it can and will make a difference someday.” 

Brittney Blair is very familiar with sickle cell disease (SCD), having the trait herself and family members with the disease –  

So, she wasn’t expecting to be deferred from donating blood in eastern Tennessee due to the presence of hemoglobin S in her veins.  

“I’ve been donating blood since I was a teenager in Florida, but because this area was not as diverse, the regional blood center lacked the necessary technology,” Blair said. “I was shocked and wanted to learn more about other potential barriers and resources for those living with SCD in rural areas without large African American populations.”   

Blair, a third-year osteopathic medical student expected to graduate from Lincoln Memorial University-DeBusk College of Osteopathic Medicine (LMU-DCOM) in 2026, utilized her Alliant Health Solutions/NMF Medical Research Program scholarship to further her research into SCD, including how the opioid epidemic has impacted pain management in affected adults.  

“I wanted to advocate for this underserved and often marginalized patient population to bridge some glaring gaps in their medical care and support systems so they can more easily access treatment.”

Blair, who grew up in Jacksonville, Florida as the youngest of five siblings, will become the first doctor in her family.  

After earning her undergraduate degree in public health from the University of South Florida (USF), she recalled shadowing a pediatrician within the Florida Department of Health.  

“Mothers would bring three or four children at a time to appointments because they didn’t have the ability to take days off work and were desperate to have all their children seen by a doctor.”

Blair was inspired to earn her graduate degree in public health, specializing in global disaster management and humanitarian relief, from USF in 2015, and began working in economic support for the Florida Department of Children and Families shortly after.  

Then the COVID-19 pandemic hit, and Blair knew her path must continue toward medicine. 

She earned her Master of Science in biomedical sciences from LMU before enrolling in DCOM in 2022 to earn her medical degree – all the while continuing to research how adults living with SCD interact with the U.S. health care system.  

“Because this disease primarily affects Black and Brown patients, high levels of medical mistrust often discourage patients from participating in research, whether it’s clinical or survey-based. That is why I utilized research grants to enable me to offer small financial incentives to patients without the time and means to participate effectively.” 

Blair said she discovered patients in rural communities were seeking specialist care more often than those living in urban and suburban areas and were therefore experiencing less crisis.  

“Rural patients found the distance to treatment centers most challenging, whereas urban and suburban patients found scheduling appointments with available and appropriate physicians most challenging,” she added.  

Blair, also a recipient of a National Health Services Corps (NHSC) scholarship, has committed herself to a future in primary care, focusing on underserved communities both locally and internationally.  

“During undergrad, I was part of an organization called the Minority Association of Pre-Med Students (MAPS), which aimed to expose underrepresented minorities to health profession fields,” Blair added. “That was the first time I was introduced to osteopathic medicine, which requires an additional 200 hours of hands-on physical musculoskeletal manipulation. After exploring it, I realized you can encourage the body to heal itself while also still having the ability to prescribe medicine and administer treatments.  

“With my desire to help people internationally, I thought, I’d want to be able to use those skills, especially if medication isn’t readily available somewhere.”  

Blair said she also strongly advocates for physicians to be involved in and understand the needs of the communities in which they practice to truly promote health and wellness overall, especially since diversity in medicine is not studied in depth during medical school. 

“Our textbooks still don’t include resources highlighting skin color or how diseases manifest in different populations. They’re so far behind the curve in terms of diversity that our professors, if they so choose, must use external resources.”  

But Blair said physician advocacy isn’t about seeing immediate results.  

“The change we are fighting for will likely not manifest during our time, but we have to continue to believe and act like it can and will make a difference someday soon.”