On Veterans Day, we have a message from a Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO) Board member and military veteran about biotech’s important role in supporting veterans and their families.
Veterans Day is a day to “think about how we can work together and think about ways to give back to those who have served,” said John F. Crowley, CEO of Amicus Therapeutics, which researches therapies for rare diseases including Batten and Pompe. Crowley is also a U.S. Navy veteran who served in three active-duty tours, including a combat tour in Afghanistan.
“This whole notion of service and sacrifice is something incredibly important for all of us,” he said during a BIO Patient Advocacy Coffee Chat. “It’s what we do every day in biotechnology to support people living with disease and to extend and enhance their lives in different ways.”
“But that bigger sense of mission, of purpose, is very clear to us in the military and it’s equally clear in biotechnology,” he continued.
It’s also important to think about “veterans coming home,” added Crowley, many of whom “didn’t come home whole,” or are coming home with mental health challenges or “physical disabilities from the wounds of war.”
The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) launched a free online suite of resources for service members, veterans, and their families. NAMI Homefront Mental Health Resources provides information on mental health conditions, treatment options, strategies for managing stress, and more—24/7, from the United States or abroad.
