NEWS & EVENTS
Sickle Cell In Focus Conference 2019 Logo

Sickle Cell in Focus Conference 2019

October 10 - 11, 2019
Jamaica Pegasus Hotel
81 Knutsford Boulevard
Kingston 5, Jamaica West Indies

Description

After another successful event at the NIH/NHLBI, USA, in October 2018, we are pleased to announce that Sickle Cell in Focus (SCiF) will be held for the second-time in Kingston, Jamaica on October 10-11, 2019. The 13th annual SCiF conference will be co-hosted by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and The University of West Indies.

SCiF is a two-day, intensive, educational update on sickle cell disease. This year’s conference will focus updates on management of commonly encountered sickle-related complications, curative therapies, and a reality check on current treatment options- blood transfusion, hydroxyurea and L-glutamine. At the end of each day, there will also be two complex debates which focus on topical issues for which there is no clear answer.

This two-day intensive educational conference is geared towards clinicians, academics, and other healthcare professionals involved in sickle cell disease around the world.

To view the complete Event Program, click here.

Agenda

8:00am
-
Registration

9:00am
-
Welcome and Introduction

9:15am - 10:45am
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SESSION ONE: SICKLE CELL DISEASE AROUND THE WORLD

9:15am - United States of America
Kathryn Hassell (Denver, Colorado, US)
Department of Medicine, Division of Hematology, University of Colorado Denver, USA

9:30am - The Caribbean
M. Hardy – Dessources, Guadeloupe
UMR_S 1134, Inserm/ Université des Antilles, CHU Pointe à Pitre, Guadeloupe

9:45am - Africa
J. Makani – Tanzania
Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

10:00am - India
Dipty Jain
Indira Gandhi Government Medical College and Mayo Hospital, Nagpur, India

10:15am - Europe
Jacques Elion – France
Université Paris Diderot, Sorbonnne Paris Cité, France

10:30am - Brazil
Fernando Costa (UNICAMP)
Cidade Universitária Zeferino Vaz, Campinas, Brazil

10:45am - Discussion

11:00am
-
BREAK

11:25am - 12:15pm
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SESSION TWO: CAN WE CURE AND/OR PREVENT SICKLE CELL DISEASE

11:25am - Gene Editing and Gene Therapy
Punam Malik
Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, USA

11:55am - Source of Cells – Impact on Success of BMT
John Tisdale
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA

12:15pm - Long Term Outcomes of BMT
Matt Hsieh
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA

12:35pm
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LUNCH

1:35pm - 2:35pm
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SESSION THREE: DISEASE MODIFICATION OF SICKLE CELL DISEASE

1:35pm - HU Around the World – Africa, India, Caribbean, and Developed World
Russell Ware
Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, USA

2:05pm - Update on Clinical Trials
Matthew Heeney (Boston)
Boston Children’s Hospital, Boston, MA, USA

2:35pm - Experience with L-glutamine
Charles Quinn
Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, Cincinnati, OH, USA

2:50pm - 3:35pm
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SESSION FOUR: PROBLEMS IN MANAGING SICKLE CELL DISEASE

2:50pm - How I Manage Venous Thromboembolisms in SCD
Arun Shet
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA

3:10pm - Opioid and Marijuana in SCD
Susanna Curtis
Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA

3:35pm - Pain as a Complex Phenotype
Deepika Darbari
Children's National Medical Center, Washington DC, USA

4:00pm - 4:40pm
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SESSION FIVE: DEBATE: BLOOD TRANSFUSION IS UNDER UTILIZED FOR SICKLE-RELATED COMPLICATIONS?

4:00pm - YES: Ross Fasano
Emory University School of Medicine, Washington, DC

4:20pm - NO: Graham Serjeant
Sickle Cell Trust, Jamaica

4:40pm - Debate

5:00pm
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DAY ONE CLOSE

8:30am
-
Registration

9:00am
-
Welcome and Introduction

9:10am - 10:50am
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SESSION ONE: TRANSLATION OF RESEARCH INTO CLINICAL CARE

9:10am - CNS
Fenella Kirkham
UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, Southampton, Hampshire, UK

9:35am - Respiratory Complications
Parker Ruhl
National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases, Bethesda, MD, USA

10:00am - Cardiac Complications
Vandana Sachdev (NHLBI, US)
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA

10:25am - Leg Ulcer
Caterina P. Minniti
Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, USA

10:50am - Renal Complications
Claire Sharpe (KCL, UK)
King’s College London, London, UK

11:15am
-
BREAK

11:35am
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SESSION TWO: OVERLOOKED BUT CRITICAL SPECIALTY AREAS IN SICKLE CELL DISEASE

11:35am - Psychology in SCD
Marsha Treadwell
UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital, Oakland, CA, USA

11:55pm - Orthopedics and SCD
Marcus Bankes (GSTT, London)
Guys and St Thomas’ Foundation NHS Trust, London, UK

12:15pm - Urology and SCD
Belinda Morrison
Department of Surgery, Radiology, Anaesthesia and Intensive Care, The University of the West Indies, Jamaica

12:35pm - Pregnancy and SCD
Monika Parshad-Asnani
The Caribbean Institute for Health Research, The Sickle Cell Unit, The University of the West Indies, Jamaica

12:55pm
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LUNCH

1:55pm - 2:40pm
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SESSION THREE: PUBLIC HEALTH ASPECTS OF SICKLE CELL DISEASE MANAGEMENT

1:55pm - Integration into PH in Developing Countries
Jennifer Knight-Madden
The Caribbean Institute for Health Research, The Sickle Cell Unit, The University of the West Indies, Jamaica

2:20pm - Insurance for Adults with SCD/Access
Katheryn Hassell (Denver, Colorado, US)
Colorado Sickle Cell Treatment and Research Center, University of Colorado, USA

2:40pm - Education of Health Care Professionals – ECHO
Rosalyn Stewart
Johns Hopkins Outpatient Center, Baltimore, USA

3:00pm - 3:40pm
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SESSION FOUR: DEBATE: PEOPLE WITH SCD SHOULD BE PRIMARILY CARED FOR BY HEMATOLOGISTS

3:00pm - YES: Swee Lay Thein (NHLBI, US)
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA

3:20pm NO: Marvin Reid
The Caribbean Institute for Health Research, The Tropical Metabolism Research Unit, The University of the West Indies, Jamaica

3:40pm - Debate

4:00pm - 5:00pm
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SESSION FIVE: PANEL DISCUSSION: CARE AND RESEARCH FROM THE PATIENT PERSPECTIVE

4:00pm - Jamaica
Morette Wright

4:20pm - Trinidad & Tobago
Renee Esdaille
Secretary of the Society for Inherited and Severe Blood Disorders T&T Ltd.

4:40pm - United States
Howard Woolley
President and CEO, Howard Woolley Group
Author, "Soar"

5:00pm - Discussion

5:20pm
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CLOSE OF CONFERENCE

Select Speakers

Photo of Swee Lay Thein
National Institutes of Health
Dr. Thein is a hematologist and clinical investigator at the NIH. Dr. Thein joined the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute/NIH in spring 2015 as Senior Investigator and Chief of the Institute’s Sickle Cell Branch.
Swee Lay Thein, M.B.
Photo of John Tisdale
National Institutes of Health
John Tisdale received his M.D. degree from the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, where he also received his B.A. in Chemistry. He is the Chief of the Cellular and Molecular Therapeutics Branch, NHLBI.
John Tisdale, M.D.
photo of Jennifer Knight-Madden
Caribbean Institute for Health Research
Dr. Jennifer Knight-Madden completed medical school at the University of the West Indies, Jamaica. Her postgraduate training included a residency in Pediatrics at the Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids), Toronto and a Pediatric Pulmonology Fellowship and MSc in Biometry at Duke Univ Medical School
Jennifer Knight-Madden M.B., B.S., Ph.D.
photo of Monika Asnani
Caribbean Institute for Health Research
Monika Asnani is a Senior Lecturer at the Caribbean Institute for Health Research- Sickle Cell Unit, U.W.I. in Jamaica. She is a Family Physician and Epidemiologist with 16 years of providing clinical care for persons living with SCD.
Monika Asnani, MBBS, DM, PhD
photo of Marcus Bankes
Guy’s & St Thomas’ NHS Trust
Marcus is the senior surgeon in the Hip Unit at Guy’s and St Thomas’ Foundation NHS Trust in London, UK, having been appointed Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon in 2002.
Marcus J. K. Bankes BSc, FRCS (Orth)
photo of Fernando F. Costa
State University of Campinas - UNICAMP
Professor Fernando F. Costa graduated (1974) and obtained both his MSc (1979) and PhD (1981) degrees from the Ribeirão Preto School of Medicine of the University of São Paulo, where he also served as a faculty member (1985-1989).
Fernando F. Costa, M.D., Ph.D.
photo of Susanna Curtis
Dr. Susanna Curtis is a post-doctoral fellow in hematology at the Yale Cancer Center and a PhD candidate in Investigative Medicine in the Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.
Susanna Curtis, M.D., Ph.D. Candidate
photo of Deepika Darbari
Children’s National Medical Center
Dr. Darbari is a Pediatric Hematologist-Oncologist at the Children’s National Medical Center and Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the George Washington University in Washington DC. Dr. Darbari studies complications of sickle cell disease with emphasis on pain.
Deepika Darbari, M.B.B.S., M.S.
photo of Jacques Elion
Université de Paris
Dr Elion is Professor of Molecular Genetics at the Université de Paris and Visiting Professor at the Universidade de São Paulo. He is the former Director of the Dept of Medical Genetics at the Robert Debré University Hospital.
Jacques Elion, M.D., Ph.D.
photo of Ross Fasano
Emory University School of Medicine
Dr. Ross Fasano is an Associate Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine and Pediatric Hematology/Oncology at Emory University School of Medicine. He also has an adjunct appointment in Adult Hematology and provides comprehensive care to adult patients with sickle cell disease at Grady Memorial
Ross Fasano, M.D.
Marie-Dominique Hardy-Dessources
French National Institute for Health and Medical Research
Dr. Marie-Dominique HARDY-DESSOURCES is a biochemist educated at the University Paris XI, Orsay, France. She obtained her PhD from the pharmaceutical department of this University.
Marie-Dominique Hardy-Dessources, Ph.D.
Photo of Kathryn Hassell
University of Colorado Denver
Dr. Kathryn Hassell is a Professor of Medicine and Director of the Colorado Sickle Cell Center and inpatient and outpatient pharmacy-directed anticoagulation services at the University of Colorado Denver.
Kathryn Hassell, M.D.
photo of Matthew Heeney
Pediatric Blood Disorders Center
Dr. Matthew Heeney received his MD at the University of Calgary, Alberta, completed his residency at the Montreal Children’s Hospital, McGill University, and a pediatric Hematology/Oncology fellowship at Duke University.
Matthew Heeney, M.D.
photo of Matthew Hsieh
National Institutes of Health
Dr. Matthew Hsieh is Staff Clinician at the Cellular and Molecular Therapeutics Branch of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.
Matthew Hsieh, M.D.
photo of Dipty Jain
Government Medical College
Dr. Dipty Lalit Jain is the current Professor and Head, Department of Pediatrics, Govt. Medical College, Nagpur and she is a consultant for WHO (UIP), USAID (Domestic Violence Against Women and Children Scientific Advisory Committee member, Indian Council Medical Research (ICMR).
Dipty Jain, M.D.
photo of Fenella Kirkham
University Hospital, Southampton and King’s College Hospital
Fenella Kirkham is a paediatric neurologist with an interest in prevention and treatment of disabling acute and chronic paediatric neurological problems, specifically in the context of sickle cell anaemia.
Fenella Kirkham
photo of Julie Makani
Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences (MUHAS)
Professor Julie Makani is Head of the Department of Hematology and Blood Transfusion at the Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences (MUHAS).
Prof. Julie Makani
photo of Punam Malik
Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center
Dr. Malik is a physician-scientist, who has worked on hematological disorders for the last 20 years. Clinically, she takes care of children with inherited and acquired blood disorders. Her research interests lie in studying the genetic therapies for hematopoietic stem cell disorders.
Punam Malik, M.D., M.S., M.B.B.S.
photo of Caterina Minniti
Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Montefiore Medical Center
Dr. Minniti is Professor of Medicine and Pediatrics at Einstein College of Medicine. She is the Director of the Sickle Cell Center for Adults at Montefiore Hospital.
Caterina P. Minniti, M.D.
photo of Belinda Morrison
University of the West Indies (UWI)
Dr Belinda Morrison is a Consultant Urologist at the University Hospital of the West Indies, Mona campus, Jamaica. She is currently Lecturer and Head of the Division of Urology at the University of the West Indies.
Belinda Morrison M.B., B.S., D.M.
photo of Charles Quinn
Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center
Dr. Quinn is pediatric hematologist with a clinical focus on sickle cell disease. He is the medical director of the Pediatric Sickle Cell Disease Program and the medical director of the Erythrocyte Diagnostic Laboratory at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital.
Charles Quinn, M.D., M.S.
photo of Marvin Reid
The University of the West Indies (UWI)
Prof Marvin Reid is the director of the Tropical Metabolism Research Unit, Caribbean Institute for Health Research (CAIHR) and Associate Lecturer in the Department of Community Medicine & Psychiatry at The University of the West Indies, Mona (The UWI).
Marvin Reid, M.B., B.S., Ph.D.
photo of A. Parker Ruhl
National Institutes of Health
Dr. Ruhl completed her training in Pulmonary Medicine at Johns Hopkins Hospital and Critical Care Medicine at the NIH Clinical Center. She is an Associate Research Physician in the Physiology Unit of the Laboratory of Malaria and Vector Research
A. Parker Ruhl, M.D., M.H.S.
Photo of Vandana Sachdev
National Institutes of Health
Vandana Sachdev is a cardiologist and Staff Clinician in the Cardiology Branch of the NHLBI Division of Intramural Research. She received her M.D. from the University of Michigan and trained in cardiology at the University of Maryland.
Vandana Sachdev, M.D.
photo of Graham Serjeant
University of the West Indies
After Clare College, Cambridge, the London Hospital Medical School, and 3 years of postgraduate education, he departed for Jamaica in August 1966 to work in the Department of Medicine, University Hospital of the West Indies, Kingston. He collaborated with Dr. Paul Milner in the Sickle Cell Clinic
Graham Serjeant
photo of Claire Sharpe
King’s College London / King’s College Hospital
Claire graduated in Medicine from University College London in 1991 and after specializing in Renal Medicine received a Kidney Research UK Clinical Training Fellowship in 1999 to undertake a PhD in renal fibrosis at King’s College London under Professor Bruce Hendry.
Claire Sharpe, MBBS, PhD
Photo of Arun Shet
National Institutes of Health
Dr. Shet is a Staff Clinician/Senior Research Physician in the Sickle Cell Branch/NHLBI, involved in patient care and translational research centering on adults with sickle cell disease. He’s the Principal Investigator on 2 active protocols and an Associate Investigator on 4 other active protocols.
Arun Shet, M.D.
photo of Rosalyn Stewart
Johns Hopkins Outpatient Center
Dr. Rosalyn Stewart is Dir of Care Coordination and Resource management at The Johns Hopkins Hospital and Associate professor at Johns Hopkins Univ School of Medicine with joint appointments in the Depts of Internal Medicine and Pediatrics, School of Nursing and Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Rosalyn Stewart, M.B.A., M.D., M.S.
photo of Marsha J. Treadwell
UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland
Dr. Treadwell is a graduate of the Univ of Washington, with a degree in clinical child psychology. She has spent her professional career at UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland, specializing in helping children and families cope with the stress of living with medical conditions and treatments.
Marsha J. Treadwell, Ph.D.
Photo of Russell Ware
University of Cincinnati
Russell Ware, MD, is the Director of the Global Health Center and Director of the Division of Hematology at the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital in Cincinnati, as well as a tenured Professor of Pediatrics and Endowed Chair of Hematology Translational Research at the University of Cincinnati.
Russell Ware, M.D.