The National Bleeding Disorders Foundation was saddened to learn of the passing of Carol Kasper, MD, a pioneer in the treatment of bleeding disorders, who died on July 8, 2025.
Dr. Kasper received her undergraduate degree from the University of Chicago in 1954 and her medical degree at the University of California, San Francisco in 1959. She then completed a residency in internal medicine and a fellowship in hematology. Dr. Kasper later joined the faculty at the University of Southern California and became professor emerita in 1999. Over the course of her career, she published more than 200 scientific papers, monographs, and book articles in the field of hematology.
Dr. Kasper played an integral role in the establishment of the first coagulation lab at the Orthopaedic Hemophilia Treatment Center in Los Angeles, CA, in the late 1966s, which was necessary to prescribe the then-new factor concentrates that would be soon available to patients. That facility, where Dr. Kasper led clinical research and operations, was one of the first institutions to implement a comprehensive care model, and in 1970 was designated by the World Federation of Hemophilia (WFH) as one of the first four International Hemophilia Training Centers.
Dr. Kasper published numerous papers on reproduction in men and women affected by hemophilia, the genetics of hemophilia, as well as studies on the management of hemophilia and other inherited bleeding disorders. She was also a mentor to many fellow hematologists. In 2010, she published a letter to Haemophlia journal, titled, “How Many Carriers Exist?” that found that approximately 20% of the 277 carriers she studied had a factor level of <30%, which falls into the mild hemophilia range. Her advocacy argued for standardized factor level testing in female carriers and influenced recommendations on this by NBDF’s MASAC and WHF.
Dr. Kasper received many accolades for her outstanding contributions to the field. These included two awards of excellence from the National Bleeding Disorders Foundation, Physician of the Year in 1992 and the Lifetime Achievement Award in 2006. She was also honored with a lifetime achievement award from the Hemostasis & Thrombosis Research Society in 2008. In 2020, she was honored with the World Federation of Hemophilia International Lifetime Achievement Award.
She served as Vice President Medical of the World Federation of Hemophilia (WFH), Vice President of the National Bleeding Disorders Foundation, and Chair of the Medical Advisory Board of the Hemophilia Foundation of Southern California (HFSC).
In 2016, she was featured in a paper, “Women Leaders in Hematology: Inspirations & Insights,” published in the American Journal of Hematology, where she discussed the many achievements in her long career. Doris Quon, MD, PhD, who interviewed her, remarked, “Her efforts [have resulted in] strengthening the community and expanding access of care to those with inherited bleeding disorders. She has given tirelessly to the hemophilia community and is a role model for those who are entering the field of hemophilia, and to women in particular, having accomplished so much early on in a time when gender bias made it difficult for women to advance.”
