Robert Persico is a former general manager at PCT Contracting that currently serves as the manager of PCI Industries, a multi-faceted construction firm in New York. Outside of his professional work, Robert Persico supports a number of charities and was named the Man of the Year by Cooley’s Anemia Foundation.

A nonprofit organization, Cooley’s Anemia Foundation helps fund research aimed at developing new treatments–and eventually a cure–for Cooley’s anemia and other forms of thalassemia. Thalassemia encompasses a group of genetic blood disorders that prohibits the body from producing enough alpha or beta protein (hemoglobin) in the blood. The condition, which is genetic, leads to insufficient oxygen being carried throughout the body by red blood cells.

Forms of thalassemia include alpha thalassemia, where hemoglobin does not produce enough alpha protein, and beta thalassemia, where hemoglobin does not produce enough beta protein. Another form of the condition, e beta thalassemia, is one of the most common and often affects individuals of Southeast Asian heritage. Finally, sickle beta thalassemia affects individuals with beta thalassemia in addition to the abnormal hemoglobin found in sickle cell disease.