Barbie honors COVID - 19 first responders with new role-model dolls

Barbie honors COVID - 19 first responders with a new line of medical role-model dolls. The six-doll collection was created to highlight the valiant deeds frontline workers have taken through the coronavirus pandemic. Mattel selected six women who proved to be real-life heroes in the medical field during this global health crisis and designed one of a kind Barbie dolls in their image. With over 200 careers, Barbie has done it all in an effort to inspire girls to believe that they can be anything, Mattel’s SVP and the global head of Barbie and Dolls, Lisa McKnight, exclusively told FOX Business. Now it's our turn to honor these real-life heroes and continue to leverage Barbie’s platform to shine a light on the courageous women who led the world selflessly through the pandemic Representing the U.S. are registered nurse Audrey Sue Cruz from Las Vegas, Nevada, and internal medicine physician Amy O'Sullivan from Staten Island, New York. O'Sullivan made headlines in March of last year for treating Wyckoff Heights Medical Center in Brooklyn with the first known COVID - 19 patient at NYC's clinic. A few days after her exposure to the first patient, O'Sullivan displayed coronavirus symptoms and ultimately had to be intubated but returned to the emergency room where she worked to treat other patients. Her selfless dedication earned her a spot as TIME magazine's September cover star on Top 100 Influential People Of 2020 list. Cruz has worked in California through the pandemic as a full-time hospitalist and faculty member at the Loma Linda University Medical Center. When Cruz isn't blogging about health, she's battled the racial prejudice and discrimination by other Asian American healthcare workers, Mattel reports. Continuing the rest of Barbie medical role model line are Kirby White, Sarah Gilbert, Chika Stacy Oriuwa, Jaqueline G es de Jesus and Jessica Gilbert. Oriuwa is a Canadian psychiatrist who treats children and adolescents at the University of Toronto. Throughout the pandemic, she's struggled to defeat systemic racism in healthcare industry that has impacted people of color, according to multiple studies. Gilbert, a British professor of vaccinology at the University of Oxford, led COVID 19 vaccine development that played an instrumental role in the United Kingdom. Prior to the coronavirus pandemic, Gilbert had made strides in malaria vaccine research. G es de Jesus, a Brazilian biomedical researcher and scientist at the University of S o Paulo, worked on genome sequencing of the COVID 19 Alpha variant that has been infecting people in Brazil. In March 2020, her team was recognized by the Bahia Legislative Assembly for successfully sequencing a genome in 48 hours. White is an Australian specialist general practitioner who co-founded Gowns for Doctors, a crowd-funded initiative that created reusable PPE gowns for frontline workers in Victoria. When she is not distributing gowns, White practice medicine at The GP Clinic Bendigo. Mattel has also partnered with Target on a donation campaign that will benefit the First Responders Children's Foundation. The parent company will donate to the FRCF for every Barbie doll sold in participating Target stores at an eligible paramedic, nurse or doctor. The campaign will run until August 28 and has max contribution of $50,000. This charitable initiative is a continuation of Mattel's ThankYouHeroes program, a signature campaign the company started in May 2020 shortly after coronavirus pandemic started.