Assistant Director Research Coordinator

Mary Lou Damiano R.N. received her undergraduate degree from the University of Connecticut, and her graduate degree at the University of Arizona-Tucson. She has been an integral part of the Arizona Hemophilia & Thrombosis Center since its inception in 1978. She first served as the Hemophilia Nurse Coordinator and has been the Center’s Assistant Director since 1989. She has extensive experience in hemophilia care on a local, regional and national level. She has served on many hemophilia-related committees including serving as Regional Coordinator for Federal Region VIII in the HRSA National Hemophilia Center Project. She is currently serving on the Community Liaison Committee of the American Thrombosis and Hemostasis Network; the Executive Committee for Federal Region VIII Hemophilia Programs; the Curriculum Development Committee of the National Blood Clot Alliance; and the Centers for Disease Control Healthy Weight Working Group. She also coordinates several hemophilia clinical trials/research studies being conducted at the Center and is responsible for the HTC administrative issues. She has many publications on hemophilia, HIV and HCV and has given many lectures and workshops on bleeding disorders.

Pediatric and Adult Nurse Practitioner

Angela Tom MS, FNP-C is a board certified Family Nurse Practitioner for the Arizona Hemophilia & Thrombosis Center at the University of Arizona Health Sciences Center. She received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing in 1991 and Master of Science in 2002 from the University of Arizona. She is a member of the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners and the Hemostasis and Thrombosis Research Society. She has experience in Pediatric Nursing including Clinical Leader in Pediatrics, Interim Clinical Faculty in Pediatric Nursing at the University of Arizona, Substitute Clinical Nursing Instructor-Pediatrics at Pima Community College, and Pediatric Bone Marrow Transplant Nurse Practitioner-University Medical Center. In addition to providing clinical care, case management, patient advocacy, and patient education, she is a guest speaker for Grand Canyon University and Pima Community College nursing programs, Director for Camp H.U.G. Hemophilia Family Camp, Infirmary Staff for Camp HONOR Hemophilia summer camp and is a co-investigator in the Prevalence of Osteoporosis in Hemophilia study and the Prevalence of Depression in Adults with Hemophilia study. Since 2004, she has developed several programs and publications for the local hemophilia community with a focus on health promotion and disease prevention. She believes health maintenance is achieved by assisting the patient and family in growth as bio-psycho-social-spiritual beings and healing is achieved as resilience to the circumstances of illness.

AzHTC Clinical Social Worker

Laurel Pennick, MSSW, LCSW, has been the Clinical Social Worker at the Arizona Hemophilia and Thrombosis Center-Tucson for the past 5 years. Ms. Pennick’s previous social work experience includes Hospital Emergency Room, Trauma and Intensive Care Units and 7 yrs. in Hospice. She received her Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Miami-Coral Gables and her Master’s Degree in Social Work from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her duties at AzHTC-Tucson include, counseling, case management, education, programming and outreach. She is actively involved in the local bleeding community through her participation in Camp Honor, Camp H.U.G. and co-coordinator of the Annual Arizona Women’s Bleeding Disorders Retreat. Ms Pennick is the past NHF Social Work Representative for Region VIII & X, is the current Chair of the National Hemophilia Foundations Social Work Working Group and a Member of NHF Medical Advisory Committee. She has presented on issues facing the hemophilia social worker on a regional and national level. She is a co-recipient of the 2008 NHF Social Work Fellowship Grant investigating Hemophilia and Depression and a co-investigator on a research survey studying the Role and Duties of the HTC Social Worker.

AzHTC Counselor

Maria Iannone is a Licensed Assoicate Counselor at the Hemophilia and Thrombosis Treatment Center in the Arizona Cancer Center in Tucson. As a counselor at the AzHTC, Maria specializes in treating patients with chronic disease. She treats both adult and pediatric patients. Maria is the co-recipient of the NHF Social Work Excellence Fellowship which funded the research project entitled: “The Prevalence of Depression in Adults with Hemophilia”. She is also the recipient of a grant from the CSL Behring Foundation to fund the patient program entitled: “Depression Care Management in Adults with Hemophilia”. Maria finished her M.A. in Counseling Psychology through Prescott College. During her graduate program, Maria completed an internship at the Blake Foundation in which she specialized in the assessment and treatment of children less than four years old. Maria also completed an internship in the Psychosocial Oncology Program at the University Medical Center in which Maria specialized in assessment of and treatment of breast cancer survivors. Maria has completed two practical therapy courses in the department of Disability and Psychoeducational Studies focusing on psychotherapy for children and family therapy, respectively. Maria draws from her clinical experiences, and 30 years of biomedical research experience. Maria’s biomedical research experience includes: the development of novel bio-correlate assays for quantitation of angiogenic and metastatic factors in human blood, novel drug development, characterization of opiate receptors, pediatric endocrinology, and androgen receptor mapping of the rat brain. This year Maria, originally from New York, celebrates over twenty years living in Tucson and working at the University of Arizona.

AzHTC Physical Therapist

Kevin Dusek P.T., D.P.T., O.C.S. is the Adult and Pediatric Physical Therapist at the Arizona Hemophilia and Thrombosis Center. Kevin received his undergraduate degree from North Arizona University and received his Doctorate Degree in Physical Therapy also from NAU. Kevin became an Orthopedic Certified Specialist in Physical Therapy in 2007. Kevin has been a Physical Therapist with the AzHTC for the past three years. He is a member of the American Physical Therapy Association, Orthopedic Specialty. Kevin stays involved in the Hemophilia community through volunteering for Camp HUG.

AZHTC
(520) 626-2816

Pictured L-R (Ellen Lance, Brenda Wittman, Laurel Pennick, Mary Lou Damiano, Angela Tom, Maria Iannone)

AZHTC Staff