Dr. Faraoni is a Professor of Anesthesia at Baylor College of Medicine, and a practicing pediatric cardiac anesthesiologist at Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston, Texas. Originally from Belgium, Dr. Faraoni worked as a pediatric cardiac anesthesiologist and a clinical researcher at Queen Fabiola Children’s University Hospital and the Free University of Brussels, Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, and the Hospital for Sick Children and the University of Toronto.

Dr. Faraoni is involved in both clinical management and research initiatives examining blood conservation in pediatric patients undergoing major surgical procedures. His expertise in pediatric blood management poised him as the lead author in the development of 2019 NATA (Network for the Advance of Transfusion Alternatives) Guidelines for “Patient Blood Management for Neonates and Children Undergoing Cardiac Surgery”. He has authored numerous research articles, review articles, and book chapters on blood management for children undergoing major surgeries.

Cassandra Josephson, M.D. is Professor of Oncology and Pediatrics at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. She is currently the Director of the Cancer and Blood Disorders Institute, Clinical Division Director for Hematology/Oncology, Medical Director of Blood Banking/Transfusion Medicine and Apheresis, at the Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital in St. Petersburg, Florida.

She hails from Florida where she attended the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine prior to training at the University of Colorado for her pediatric residency. Subsequently, she trained at Emory University College of Medicine for Pediatric Hematology/Oncology and Blood Banking/Transfusion Medicine training. She spent the following 20 years at Emory University prior to joining Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in 2022. Dr. Josephson’s research career focuses on pediatric transfusion medicine and, more specifically, transfusion therapy in neonates, sickle cell anemia, thalassemia, and massive transfusion in children with hemorrhage. She currently and previously garnered grants from National Institutes of Health, CDC, industry and private foundations where she is or has been the Principal Investigator. Dr. Josephson is actively involved in teaching medical students, residency, and fellowship trainees in pediatrics, pathology, anesthesia, and multiple surgical specialties. She has authored or co-authored high impact publications in peer-reviewed journals, in addition to numerous review articles and book chapters. She is one of the Co-Chairs for the REDS IV-Pediatrics Program evaluating Recipient Epidemiology and Donor Evaluation of Blood Products and Transfusion in the US and Brazil focused on Children. She also services as an Associate Editor for Transfusion, the journal of the Association for the Advancement of Blood & Biotherapies (AABB).