DDCF Awards $6 Million for Sickle Cell Disease Research

The Doris Duke Charitable Foundation has announced grants totaling $6 million in support of seven research projects addressing the causes of sickle cell disease. Sickle cell disease, the most common inherited blood disorder in the United States, affects approximately a hundred thousand Americans. Patients with sickle cell disease carry dysfunctional red blood cells that alter regular blood flow, which translates into pain, poor organ oxygenation and organ damage, and a life span of only about forty years. The first grants awarded through DDCF's Sickle Cell Disease/Advancing Cures awards competition will support projects designed to develop disease-modifying approaches to sickle cell disease and translate them into clinically feasible therapies. By restoring hemoglobin function, researchers aim to remove patients' need to manage the disease's acute, devastating, and lifelong symptoms, ultimately increasing their life expectancy.