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MRI more accurate, safe and less painful than liver biopsy in measuring total body iron balance

Investigators at The Saban Research Institute of Children's Hospital Los Angeles have demonstrated that MR imaging of the liver is more accurate than liver biopsy in determining total body iron balance in patients with sickle cell disease and other disorders requiring blood transfusion therapy.

20 Mar 2015

New bone marrow transplant unit launched in Bangalore, India

A bone marrow transplant can mean the difference between life and death for people with blood cancers and related disorders. But many patients in India can't afford the high treatment costs, and for them a transplant is not an option. This is changing thanks to a newly launched bone marrow transplant unit at M.S. Ramaiah Medical College in Bangalore.

19 Mar 2015

Researchers use stem cells from sickle cell disease patients to grow mature red blood cells

Researchers at Johns Hopkins have successfully corrected a genetic error in stem cells from patients with sickle cell disease, and then used those cells to grow mature red blood cells, they report. The study represents an important step toward more effectively treating certain patients with sickle cell disease who need frequent blood transfusions and currently have few options.

10 Mar 2015

Loyola's Genomics Facility uses next generation sequencing to study genetic make-up of organisms

Loyola University Chicago's Genomics Facility is using an advanced technology called next generation sequencing to assist a broad range of researchers studying the genetic make-up of organisms ranging from viruses to humans.

9 Mar 2015

Investigational drug may attack cause of vaso-occlusion crises in sickle cell anemia

Treatment for painful episodes of blood vessel obstruction in sickle cell anemia is currently limited to controlling pain, but an investigational therapy might be able to interfere with the underlying cause of these events, known as vaso-occlusion crises, researchers at Duke Medicine report.

3 Mar 2015

Three Keck Medicine scientists of USC receive $4.3 million from CIRM for stem cell research

Three scientists from Keck Medicine of the University of Southern California have won grants exceeding $4.3 million from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine for research that includes creating a temporary liver for transplant patients, finding novel ways to treat immune disorders and blood diseases and developing a new animal model for exploring diseases like heart failure, diabetes and neurodegenerative diseases.

5 Feb 2015

FDA accepts Sangamo BioSciences' IND for SB-BCLmR-HSPC genome editing approach

Sangamo BioSciences, Inc. announced today that an Investigational New Drug (IND) application for the company's SB-BCLmR-HSPC genome editing approach, which is designed to provide a one-time lasting therapy for beta-thalassemia, has been accepted by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and is now active.

4 Feb 2015

Johns Hopkins pediatricians offer guidelines on choosing between urgent care and ER

Parents have a natural tendency to fear the worst when it comes to their children and often opt for a "better safe than sorry" course of action, Canares says, but the truth is many situations don't warrant a trip to the emergency room. At the other end of the spectrum are cases that clearly require emergency attention but end up in urgent care instead — a less common scenario, Canares says.

2 Feb 2015

Study examines why hydroxyurea yields mixed results in children with sickle cell disease

Electronic medication monitoring caps may help physicians put together the puzzle of why children taking a medicine that promises to curb sickle cell disease are showing mixed, confusing results.

2 Feb 2015

SCCA's Fred Hutch Bone Marrow Transplant Program achieves higher survival rates

The Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center Bone Marrow Transplant Program at Seattle Cancer Care Alliance was recently recognized for outperforming its anticipated one-year survival rate for allogeneic transplant patients.

28 Jan 2015

Deoxygenated hemoglobin triggers conversion of nitrite to nitric oxide

Understanding how nitrite can improve conditions such as hypertension, heart attack and stroke has been the object of worldwide research studies. New research from Wake Forest University has potentially moved the science one step closer to this goal.

14 Dec 2014

Children born prematurely need to be placed in a priority group for seasonal flu vaccination

Children born prematurely are at an increased risk of flu-related complications, despite not being identified as an “at risk” group in UK, USA, or WHO guidelines, and should be a priority group for the seasonal flu vaccination, new research published in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine suggests.

8 Dec 2014

Emerging strategies to boost healthy RBCs may reduce burden of anemia linked to blood disorders

Emerging treatment approaches may reduce the burden of anemia associated with blood disorders by enhancing production of healthy red blood cells, according to data presented today at the 56th American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting and Exposition.

7 Dec 2014

Raising awareness of sickle cell disease risks

Members of the public in sub-Saharan Africa who are carriers of the hereditary disease sickle cell disease must be educated aggressively through public health campaigns to raise awareness of the risks of parenting offspring with the disease if their partner is also a carrier, according to research published in the International Journal of Medical Engineering and Informatics.

24 Nov 2014

Hydroxyurea therapy offers safe, effective disease management of SCA

Conclusive data show that hydroxyurea therapy offers safe and effective disease management of sickle cell anemia (SCA) and reduces the risk of stroke, prompting early termination by the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute of a key clinical trial studying the drug's efficacy.

23 Nov 2014

Scientists develop human stem cell disease model of Parkinson's disease in a dish

A team of scientists led by The New York Stem Cell Foundation Research Institute successfully created a human stem cell disease model of Parkinson's disease in a dish. Studying a pair of identical (monozygotic) twins, one affected and one unaffected with Parkinson's disease, another unrelated Parkinson's patient, and four healthy control subjects, the scientists were able to observe key features of the disease in the laboratory, specifically differences in the patients' neurons' ability to produce dopamine, the molecule that is deficient in Parkinson's disease.

6 Nov 2014

New partners join Grand Challenges Canada to help protect early brain development

Grand Challenges Canada, funded by the Government of Canada, today welcomed three new partners to the Saving Brains Grand Challenge: Aga Khan Foundation Canada, Norlien Foundation and World Vision Canada. These organizations strengthen the existing partnership with the Bernard van Leer Foundation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and the Maria Cecilia Souto Vidigal Foundation.

8 Oct 2014

NKT Therapeutics' NKTT120 receives FDA Fast Track designation for treatment of sickle cell disease

NKT Therapeutics today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted Fast Track designation to NKTT120, the company's lead therapeutic being developed for the treatment of sickle cell disease.

3 Oct 2014

Daktari receives NIH SBIR grant to develop point-of-care sickle cell diagnostic test

Daktari Diagnostics, in collaboration with Harvard University, the Medical University of South Carolina, and the University of Zambia in Lusaka, is thrilled to announce that it has been awarded a Small Business Innovation Research grant by the National Institute of Health for a point-of-care sickle cell diagnostic test.

23 Sep 2014

SCD patients who experience discrimination are less likely to follow physician recommendations

Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) is the most common genetic condition detected by newborn screening in the United States - a physically devastating and painful illness affecting an estimated 100,000 individuals currently nationwide.

10 Sep 2014