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