Research: Fetal Tolerance, Chimerism and Sickle Cell Disease

Recent and ongoing studies in the Sickle Cell Center are funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the NIH-funded Comprehensive Sickle Cell Center Program, non-governmental funding agencies, corporations, and community organizations and individuals. We are one of 10 Comprehensive Sickle Cell centers in the nation funded on a competitive basis by the NIH's National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute.  Our studies include:

Fetal tolerance, chimerism and sickle cell disease 

Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in utero (IUHSCTx) is a promising approach for the treatment of a variety of hematologic disorders. The goal for in utero stem cell therapy is to treat sickle cell disease before any clinical manifestations of the disease occur.

Alan Flake, MD, a pediatric and fetal surgeon and director of CHOP's Center for Fetal Research, is conducting research that aims to allow for replacement of abnormal blood forming stem cells with normal stem cells, with the hope that eventually, unborn babies treated with this preventative therapy will be born without any symptoms of sickle cell disease.