Archived Lecture: From Genomics to Biomarkers: A New Landscape in Sickle Cell Disease

Talk Abstract

Dr. Sheehan will describe her career as a physician scientist, and how her laboratory uses genomics to unravel the mechanisms of globin switching and the pharmacogenomics of hydroxyurea in SCD, in order to develop new fetal hemoglobin inducing agents to treat people with sickle cell disease. Her work has led to a clinical trial of metformin as a fetal hemoglobin inducing agent in patients with hemoglobinopathies.  Dr. Sheehan has also developed rheology biomarkers for use in assessing cure in gene based therapy, and collaborates with Dr. Gang Bao to assess the safety and efficacy of CRISPR /Cas9 based gene therapy in SCD.

Additional Details 

This is a free event hosted by the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute and the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine. The Timothy A. Johnson Medical Scholar Lecture Series hosts clinician scientists who are exploring frontiers of medicine. These lectures are principally intended for Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine students and Virginia Tech students in Translational Biology, Medicine, and Health graduate program. Virginia Tech and Carilion Clinic faculty, staff, and students may also attend.

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