Jennifer Krajewski has served the Pediatric Blood and Bone Marrow Transplantation Program at Hackensack Meridian Health Hackensack University Medical Center since 2010. Her primary interest is in the use of allogeneic transplantation for sickle cell anemia. Dr. Krajewski is a member of the Sickle Cell Transplant Advocacy & Research Alliance (STAR), an international organization created to investigate the best way to use stem cell transplants to cure sickle cell disease. She was recently appointed co-chair of the STAR Advocacy Education Outreach Committee. Along with STAR, her professional affiliations include: Alpha Omega Alpha, the American Society of Blood and Marrow Transplantation, and the Pediatric Blood and Marrow Consortium. She co-authored a review article on the use of stem cell transplantation as a cure for sickle cell anemia, published in the journal Bone Marrow Transplantation in 2012. She also served as a co-investigator in a quality improvement project examining the role of a treatment pathway for pediatric sickle cell patients presenting in the emergency department with vaso-occlusive crisis.   Representative Publications: A Multicenter Study of Bacterial Blood Stream Infections in Pediatric Allogeneic Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation Recipients: The Role of Acute Gastrointestinal Graft-versus-Host Disease Pulmonary thromboembolism in a child with sickle cell hemoglobin d disease in the setting of acute chest syndrome Use of a clinical pathway to improve the acute management of vaso-occlusive crisis pain in pediatric sickle cell disease Successful matched sibling donor marrow transplantation following reduced intensity conditioning in children with hemoglobinopathies Online profile

Steven Hardy, Ph.D. is the Director of Psychology and Patient Care Services, as well as a psychologist in the Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders. He also serves as an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences. Dr. Hardy provides evidence-based psychological assessments and treatments for children with cancer, sickle cell disease, and other blood disorders, as well as those patients undergoing bone marrow transplants. He also provides brief psychological assessments and interventions as part of multidisciplinary clinics for survivors of childhood cancer and patients who have received bone marrow transplants for sickle cell disease. Dr. Hardy’s research involves studying the neurocognitive effects of sickle cell disease and exploring interventions to address disease-related cognitive deficits and improve quality of life. Online profile

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Dr. Megan Davis received her medical degree from the University of Oklahoma in Oklahoma City and completed her residency in Internal Medicine and Paediatrics at UAMS. Dr. Davis followed her residency training with a fellowship in Hospice and Palliative Medicine. She is board certified in Internal Medicine, Paediatrics, and Hospice and Palliative Medicine. She currently serves as the co-director of the UAMS Adult Sickle Cell Program in addition to her role on the Palliative Care team as well as assistant professor at department of internal medicine. Her interests include hospice and palliative care, cancer pain and symptom management, and sickle cell disease. She has experience of treating various diseases such as cancer and sickle cell disease. Online profile

Dr. Shelley Crary received her undergraduate degree in 1996 from Washington University in St. Louis, MO. She then attended medical school at Tulane University School of Medicine in New Orleans, LA. She completed Pediatrics residency at Vanderbilt University in 2003 and Pediatric Hematology-Oncology fellowship at University of Texas Southwestern Medical School in Dallas, TX in 2006. She also obtained a Master's Degree in Clinical Science in 2009 from UT Southwestern. Dr. Crary joined the medical staff at Arkansas Children's Hospital (ACH) in 2011. She is board certified in both Pediatrics and Pediatric Hematology-Oncology. Dr. Crary's primary clinical and research interests are focused on the care of children with bleeding or clotting disorders. She also has a strong interest in the hematologic aspects and medical management of complex vascular anomalies and works closely with the vascular anomalies multidisciplinary team at Arkansas Children's. Online profile

Dr. Suzanne Saccente received her medical degree from the Medical University of South Carolina College of Medicine, in 1989 and completed her residency followed by fellowship at University of Alabama School of Medicine. She is board certified Pediatrician. She currently serves as the Assistant Professor in department of pediatrics at UAMS. Her interests include paediatric haematology and sickle cell disease. Online profile

Leigh Ann Wilson is a licensed clinical social worker associated with sickle cell disease program at Arkansas Children’s. She is part of highly skilled sickle cell medical team. This team teaches patients and their parents about how to live with and manage this lifelong condition. When the child becomes an adult, Leigh Ann seamlessly transitions his or her care to the adult sickle cell program at the University of Arkansas Medical Centre. She is also associated with Adult Sickle Cell Clinical Program at UAMS. Leigh Ann Wilson is in the clinic every week to assist patients and their families regarding social and emotional support, health-related expenses not covered by insurance, transportation costs, and employment options. Online profile

Marina Cavazzana is a pediatrician, Professor of Haematology since 2000, Head of the Biotherapy Department at Hospital Necker, University Paris Descartes. She is the Director of the Inserm / Assistance Publique – Hôpitaux de Paris GHU Ouest Biotherapy Clinical Investigation Center and leads a research Laboratory at Imagine Institute. She studied medicine in Padua, Italy and received Doctorate of Medicine in 1983, her certification in Paediatrics in 1987 and a PhD in Life Sciences in 1993 (University Paris VII). Dr. Marina Cavazzana has dedicated her time and research in investigating innovative protocol with a particular intervention gene therapy, focusing on sickle cell disease. Her main research and clinical interests are development of the immune system, genetic diseases of the haematopoietic system and cell and gene therapy. Her group studies the means to improve the clinical results of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, crossing HLA-barriers, and the differentiation of mouse and human stem cells towards lymphocyte lineages. She has initiated several clinical trials based on the use of ex vivo gene modified cells to treat patients with inherited disorders, the preliminary clinical results of which are encouraging. She is the author or co-author of one patent and of more than 270 publications in peer-reviewed journals.   Representative Publications: Gene Therapy in a Patient with Sickle Cell Disease Family cord blood banking for sickle cell disease: a twenty-year experience in two dedicated public cord blood banks Arterio-venous fistula for automated red blood cells exchange in patients with sickle cell disease: Complications and outcomes Cardiac iron overload in chronically transfused patients with thalassemia, sickle cell anemia, or myelodysplastic syndrome Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in thalassemia major and sickle cell disease: indications and management recommendations from an international expert panel Online profile