Basic Science
New Discoveries
Pitt researchers have found a gene that appears to affect pain thresholds in patients with SCD.
Belfer I, Youngblood V, Darbari DS, Wang Z, DIaw L, Freeman L, Desai K, Dizon M, Allen D, Cunnington C, Channon KM, Milton J, Hartley SW, Nolan V, Kato GJ, Steinberg MH, Goldman D, Taylor JG 6th. (2014). A GCH1 haplotype confers sex-specific susceptibility to pain crises and altered endothelial function in adults with sickle cell anemia. Am J Hematol. 89(2):187-93. PMID: 24136375. PMCID:PMC4281092. DOI: 10.1002/ajh.23613.
Pitt researcher Dr. Cheryl Hillery has shown that protein HMGB1 that promotes the inflammation seen in SCD.
Xu H, Wandersee NJ, Guo Y, Jones DW, Holzhauer SL, Hanson MS, Machogu E, Brousseau DC, Hogg N, Densmore JC, Kaul S, Hillery CA, Pritchard KA Jr. Sickle cell disease increases high mobility group box 1: a novel mechanism of inflammation. Blood. 2014 Dec 18;124(26):3978-81. doi: 10.1182/blood-2014-04-560813. Epub 2014 Oct 22. PubMed PMID: 25339362; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4271182.
Sickle Cell Researchers
Bruce Freeman, PhD
Professor and Chair, Department of Pharmacology and Chemical Biology
Samit Ghosh, PhD
Research Assistant Professor of Medicine, Hematology/Oncology
Mark Gladwin, MD
Professor and Chair, Department of Medicine
Cheryl Hillery, MD
Professor of Pediatrics
Enrico Novelli, MD, MS
Assistant Professor of Medicine, Hematology/Oncology
Solomon Ofori-Acquah, PhD
Associate Professor of Medicine, Hematology/Oncology
Tirthadipa Pradhan-Sundd, PhD
Research Assistant Professor of Medicine, Hematology/Oncology
Sruti Shiva, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Pharmacology and Chemical Biology
Adam Straub, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Pharmacology and Chemical Biology
Prithu Sundd, PhD
Assistant Professor of Medicine, PACCM
Dario Vitturi, PhD
Research Assistant Professor, Department of Pharmacology and Chemical Biology
Aisha Walker, PhD, MPH
Research Assistant Professor of Medicine, PACCM
Yingze Zhang, PhD
Associate Professor of Medicine (PACCM) and Human Genetics
Bukola Gbotosho, PhD
Postdoctoral Associate, Kato Lab