HydroPeptide Gives Back – The Henrietta Lacks Foundation
2020 has been a year filled with many changes. COVID-19 and the Black Lives Matter movement have indicated that there is a serious need for change. Here at HydroPeptide, we are making changes to the way we run our business. We’ve decided to focus more of our efforts on supporting the communities that we benefit from and that have defined us as a brand.
Part of our efforts includes incorporating charities into our framework that match our brand values. We’ve identified our first charity in the Henrietta Lacks Foundation.
For our Chief Geneticist, Neal Kitchen, the Henrietta Lacks Foundation is especially close to his heart. As an incoming graduate student in cell biology I had the chance, like thousands of my peers, to work with HeLa cells as a core tool for my epigenetic research. At the time, I had no knowledge of the history to these amazing cells—I only knew they were a fantastic cell line for studying cellular expression and epigenetic theory. Our understanding in so many areas of science, including breakthroughs in epigenetic research and skincare formulations, are a direct result of learnings from HeLa cells.”
“It wasn’t until near the end of my doctorate work that I discovered the way HeLa cells were obtained originally, by reading a book titled The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot. These incredible cells were taken without the permission or payment to the donor, a black woman named Henrietta Lacks. Millions of dollars can be attributed to the use of HeLa cells, with no compensation being given to the family of Henrietta Lacks. The injustice that occurred to obtain HeLa cells should have been addressed decades ago, and we are still in the fight to make a real change.”
“The Henrietta Lacks Foundation was started to bring awareness to this and other injustices done to black people in the medical field. I am thrilled HydroPeptide is working with the Henrietta Lacks Foundation as a way to give back and provide opportunities for advanced education to the family of Henrietta Lacks.”
To learn more about the Henrietta Lacks Foundation, click the link below:
http://henriettalacksfoundation.org/about/
