{"id":39659,"date":"2011-05-27T11:59:10","date_gmt":"2011-05-27T15:59:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=39659"},"modified":"2011-07-21T11:08:14","modified_gmt":"2011-07-21T15:08:14","slug":"cicats-symposium-sets-sights-on-sickle-cell","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2011\/05\/cicats-symposium-sets-sights-on-sickle-cell\/","title":{"rendered":"CICATS Symposium Sets Sights on Sickle Cell"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Dr.<\/a>
Dr. Biree Andemariam with a patient in the Comprehensive Sickle Cell Clinical and Research Center. Patient is Chad Bruce, 25, of Middletown.. (Chris DeFrancesco\/UConn Health Center Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A daylong research symposium\u00a0June 2<\/strong> at the UConn Health Center will focus on a painful blood disorder believed to affect nearly 100,000 Americans and millions worldwide.<\/p>\n

\u201cSickle Cell Disease: Translating Science into Action,\u201d presented by the\u00a0Connecticut Institute for Clinical and Translational Science<\/a>, will feature eight speakers, including\u00a0Dr. Biree Andemariam<\/a>, a clinician-scientist in the\u00a0Lea\u2019s Foundation Center for Hematologic Disorders<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cSickle cell disease, the most common hereditary blood disorder, is in dire need of biomedical research to accelerate the unacceptably slow pace of even the most basic of discoveries in this field,\u201d says Andemariam, whose study of sickle cell disease made her one of the first recipients of a\u00a0CICATS Award for Mentored Research<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Doctors have known about sickle cell disease for more than a century, but no universal cure exists. In most cases, treatment options are limited to pain management.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe CICATS\u00a0core interest group in sickle cell disease<\/a> was developed to bring together researchers across the state from various disciplines to work toward a common goal of translating scientific discoveries in sickle cell disease into rational, effective and novel ways of treating the disease,\u201d Andemariam says. \u201cThis symposium is a major step toward that goal.\u201d<\/p>\n

Scheduled presenters also include:<\/p>\n