Sickle Cell Disease News and Research

Latest Sickle Cell Disease News and Research

Georgia Tech hosts symposium to discuss sickle cell disease

Georgia Tech will host the Sickle Cell Disease Symposium bringing together researchers, policy experts and community advocates to discuss the latest research and strategies for future success in combating this complex and debilitating blood disorder. The symposium begins at Georgia Tech's Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience on November 4 and concludes the evening of November 5.

4 Nov 2010

New global map shows distribution of sickle cell gene

At a global scale, the sickle cell gene is most commonly found in areas with historically high levels of malaria, adding geographical support to the hypothesis that the gene, whilst potentially deadly, avoids disappearing through natural selection by providing protection against malaria.

3 Nov 2010

Child Life Program organizes Halloween celebration for children undergoing treatment

Once a year cartoon characters, fairy princesses and action heroes gather at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital as hundreds of employees work together to turn the hospital into a giant trick-or-treat trail for children battling cancer and other catastrophic diseases. The event spans buildings and floors throughout the campus in Memphis, Tenn.

1 Nov 2010

Nanomedicine Center for Nucleoprotein Machines receives $16.1 million NIH award

The Georgia Tech-led Nanomedicine Center for Nucleoprotein Machines has received an award of $16.1 million for five years as part of its renewal by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The eight-institution research team plans to pursue development of a clinically viable gene correction technology for single-gene disorders and demonstrate the technology's efficacy with sickle cell disease.

29 Oct 2010

New iPSC cell lines could help in treating patients with lung diseases

A team of researchers from Boston University's Center for Regenerative Medicine and the Pulmonary Center have generated 100 new lines of human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) from individuals with lung diseases, including cystic fibrosis and emphysema. The new stem cell lines could possibly lead to new treatments for these debilitating diseases.

29 Oct 2010

CHORI hosts 2nd annual international Advanced Workshop on Sickle Cell Disease

Children's Hospital & Research Center Oakland is hosting the 2nd annual international Advanced Workshop on Sickle Cell Disease October 28 and 29. This impressive conference will bring together hematologists from Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Venezuela, Brazil, and beyond, and the premier sickle cell experts from the United States for a dialogue on research, comprehensive care, and new treatments and therapies.

27 Oct 2010

HRSA supports Sickle Cell Disease Treatment Demonstration Program with $1.6M award

HRSA has awarded $1.6 million to support the Sickle Cell Disease Treatment Demonstration Program (SCDTDP). The program is designed to establish practice models for the prevention and treatment of sickle cell disease through the coordinated efforts of providers, key stake holders, affected individuals and their families.

25 Oct 2010

Nitric oxide inhalation reduces pain in sickle cell disease patients

Inhaling nitric oxide appears to safely and effectively reduce pain crises in adults with sickle cell disease, researchers report.

20 Oct 2010

Teen Art Show shares teenagers' emotions in artistic fashion

With the help of the Child Life Program at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, 22 new pieces of art were revealed from 19 talented adolescent patients during the Teen Art Show. The artwork is on display in a hospital hallway that was transformed permanently into the Teen Art Gallery.

12 Oct 2010

Family-centered care approach may improve children's care

As physicians and scientists at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital work to find new insights into pediatric cancer and other catastrophic diseases, a central tenant of any treatment plan is to keep families at the center of children's care.

12 Oct 2010

Amgen to present oncology portfolio results at ESMO Congress

Amgen today announced that results from several important studies from the Company's ncology portfolio will be presented at the 35th European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress, Oct. 8-12, 2010, in Milan, Italy.

6 Oct 2010

Center for Excellence in Sickle Cell Disease established by Vanderbilt and Meharry

A Vanderbilt-Meharry Center for Excellence in Sickle Cell Disease has been established by Vanderbilt University Medical Center and Meharry Medical College. The Center will seek to bring high quality care to people with sickle cell disease (SCD) that is seamless and lifelong.

1 Oct 2010

NIH funds $1.5M for research into prediction of stroke risk in pediatric patients with sickle cell disease

A researcher from the biomedical engineering department operated by Georgia Tech and Emory University has received a $1.5 million NIH Director's New Innovator Award to support a project aimed at reducing the incidence of stroke in children with sickle cell disease. Manu Platt, an assistant professor in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, will use the National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding to develop models for identifying which children with the disease are at risk for stroke.

1 Oct 2010

Blood journal publishes GMI-1070 pre-clinical data in sickle cell disease model

GlycoMimetics, Inc., a clinical stage biotechnology company developing a new class of glycobiology based therapies for a broad range of indications, today announced that the journal Blood has published pre-clinical data on the company's lead compound GMI-1070 in a model of sickle cell disease.

29 Sep 2010

Scientists identify new pathway to control immune balance

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital scientists have identified a new pathway that helps control the immune balance through reciprocal regulation of specialized T lymphocytes, which play very different inflammatory roles.

21 Sep 2010

Six3 gene safeguards future retina

New research led by St. Jude Children's Research Hospital investigators adds to evidence that the Six3 gene functions like a doorman in the developing brain and visual system, safeguarding the future retina by keeping the region where the eye is forming free of a signaling protein capable of disrupting the process.

21 Sep 2010

ADHD medication improves childhood cancer survivors: Research

A medicine widely used to treat attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) also provides long-term relief from the attention and behavior changes that affect many childhood cancer survivors, according to a multicenter trial led by St. Jude Children's Research Hospital investigators.

14 Sep 2010

Study finds new therapeutic target for polycystic kidney disease

In work suggesting a new approach to treating polycystic kidney disease (PKD), a leading cause of kidney failure, researchers at Children's Hospital Boston were able to block the formation of fluid-filled cysts, the hallmark of the disease, in a mouse model. Their findings, using a compound that inhibits a receptor known as c-Met, will be published in the September 13th online edition of the Journal of Clinical Investigation.

14 Sep 2010

FerroKin BioSciences initiates international Phase 2 study of FBS0701

FerroKin BioSciences today announced the initiation of an international Phase 2 study of FBS0701, a novel once-daily iron chelator in development for the treatment of transfusional iron overload. The Phase 2 study will assess the safety, tolerability, and pharmacodynamics of FBS0701.

10 Sep 2010

Johns Hopkins Children's Center urges new screening program to improve sickle cell trait

The Johns Hopkins Children's Center top pediatrician is urging a "rethink" of a new sickle cell screening program, calling it an enlightened but somewhat rushed step toward improving the health of young people who carry the sickle cell mutation.

9 Sep 2010