April 27, 2023
She has received countless honors throughout her career, but the latest was “a total surprise.”
The Hemostasis & Thrombosis Research Society recently awarded Kulkarni, MD, Emeritus Professor of Pediatrics and Human Development at the University of Human Medicine, with its 2023 Lifetime Achievement Award.
“I am both honored and humbled,” said Kulkarni, who is also director emeritus of the MSU Center for Bleeding and Clotting Disorders. The peers clearly do not share their opinions.
Members of the Society voted to give her the highest honor in recognition of her “distinguished career and many contributions to the field of hemostasis and thrombosis.”
Kulkarni has long been active in societies that promote research, mentorship, workforce development, and continuing medical education in bleeding and clotting disorders. A pediatrician by training, Kulkarni became interested in bleeding disorders after his aunt died of postpartum hemorrhage. She completed her 1975 fellowship in pediatric hematology/oncology at Wayne State University School of Medicine Michigan Children’s Hospital in Detroit.
She entered the College of Human Medicine in 1977, founded the Department of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology and was appointed Director of Pediatric and Adolescent Hematology/Oncology. From 2006 until 2008, she served as Director of the Division of Hematology at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, before returning to MSU, where she served as Director of the Center for Bleeding and Clotting Disorders.
In 2010, she helped found the Foundation for Women and Girls with Blood Disorders, a non-profit organization that helps doctors correctly diagnose and treat blood disorders and reproductive problems in women and girls. .
“The big problem we have with these disorders is that doctors don’t always recognize them, especially when the symptoms are mild,” said Kulkarni. “Our aim is to educate and raise their awareness.”
She also encourages medical students, residents, and fellows to consider a career in hematology (pediatric and adult) because such professionals are in short supply.
Last fall, the Hemophilia B Coalition presented Kulkarni with the Eternal Spirit Award, along with her own bobblehead. The Society for Hemostasis and Thrombosis Research was due to present her with a trophy at a conference in Orlando earlier this year, but she was stuck in a snowstorm in Milwaukee.
“
So they gave me a stuffed dolphin instead,” she said until the trophy arrived a few weeks later. “My prize,” she joked.
After being appointed honorary in 2014, Kulkarni helped establish a telemedicine and outreach clinic in Houghton Hancock, Upper Peninsula, and in 2015 established a lifelong clinic for women and girls with blood disorders. Most recently, she was part of a group that opened a mobile dental unit to treat Amish patients in central Michigan.
Retirement doesn’t interest her.
“I could sit at home all day watching Netflix,” Kulkarni said. It activates my brain and quite frankly, I enjoy it.”
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