World Sickle Cell Day Event a Success!

Family Sickle Cell Research and Educational Summit
June 19, 2018

Post-Event Summary

The Sickle Cell Center of Excellence hosted a very successful, informative, and well-received World Sickle Cell Day event on Tuesday, June 19, which included tours of the Vascular Medicine Institute laboratories. The event was attended by over 100 patients, families, faculty, researchers, and staff.

Patient Presenters

Lauren Ransom
Shyala Pelmon
Todd Griffin, Jr.

UPMC SCD Program

Cheryl Hillery, MD
Enrico Novelli, MD

Children’s Sickle Cell Foundation

Michael Matthews

University of Pittsburgh:
Vascular Medicine Institute Presenters

Mark Gladwin, MD                    Ling Wang, PhD
Greg Kato, MD                           Maria Kapetanaki, PhD
Laura De Castro, MD                Lynda Ihrig, BS
Prithu Sundd, PhD                     Tomasz Brzoska, PhD
Aisha Walker, PhD, MPH          Katherine Wood, PhD
Charles Jonassaint, PhD           Bukola Gbotosho, PhD
Ram Kalpatthi, MD                    Oyin Dosunmu-Ogunbi
Ravi Vats, MS

Key Components

Patient Presentations – Peer-to-peer talks on living with sickle cell disease, including diet, peer support, and use of poetry for coping.

Overview of Pittsburgh Hospital & Community-Based Services – Physicians from the UPMC Adult & Pediatric SCD Program outlined hospital-based services, and Michael Matthews from the Children’s Sickle Cell Foundation spoke about community-based services.

Advances in SCD Research at UPMC and Pitt

Research Talks – Researchers from the Vascular Medicine Institute (VMI) provided 5-minute overviews of their research.
VMI Tours – 30 adult participants toured the VMI lab facility Small groups rotated through six different lab stations, stopping at each to engage with the research staff in an interactive presentation.
Research Demos – Families participated in educational research demonstrations geared towards children & youth, including videos and coloringin the auditorium, including watching videos and coloring.