Kathleen Babich, MA, RDN

Princeton, New Jersey

Retired Adjunct Nutrition Instructor, Middlesex County College

Represented: Patients, Caregivers, and Patient Advocates

With two rare diseases, Kathleen Babich has the lived experience and the perspective of the patient. Babich, who is part of a multigenerational family with RUNX1 FPD/AML disorder, was diagnosed in 1996, after a lifetime of familial platelet disorder (FPD) with acute myelogenous leukemia (AML). She received a successful allogenic bone marrow transplant but in 2008 developed another rare hematological disorder, thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP).

Babich became a caregiver for several years when her sister, who also had RUNX1 disorder, developed AML and received a bone marrow transplant; her sister, however, died in 2013.

Babich serves as a patient advisory board member for the RUNX1 Research Program. She also is a member of Answering TTP Foundation, is involved with its Patient Connect Program, and is a TTP education advocate.

A retired registered dietitian nutritionist, Babich holds a BS from Marywood University, served a dietetic internship with the US Public Health Service, and received an MA in nutrition education and dietetics from New York University.

Babich served as a member of the Advisory Panel on Rare Disease from August 2018 - October 2019.