Advocate Profile, Beverly and Steve Ross

In March 2014, Beverly and Stephen Ross’ daughter, Stephanie, was attending Drexel University on a Ben Franklin Fellowship. She went to bed earlier than normal one Sunday night because she felt very tired. The next morning, her Phi Mu sorority sisters found her unresponsive in her room when she didn’t hear her alarm go off. Stephanie was rushed to the hospital where she died after several hours of trying to revive her. She was just 19 years old.

Stephanie had been vaccinated, but a few days after she passed away, her parents learned that she had contracted serogroup B meningococcal disease. Her case was connected to the outbreak that occurred at Princeton University. At the time, serogroup B vaccines were not approved in the U.S. Now, they are. Steve and Beverly want to raise awareness about available vaccines to protect against all major serogroups.