The Silent Infarct Transfusion Trial

The six-year study involves 25 sites in the United States, Canada, England and France.  The study’s goal is to determine the efficacy of blood transfusion therapy as a treatment for preventing silent strokes. Silent strokes — strokes that do not cause immediately obvious symptoms — frequently go unrecognized and are one of the most serious afflictions associated with sickle cell disease. They can cause declines in school performance, increased forgetfulness and a diminished ability to follow even simple instructions.

The Sickle Cell and Asthma Cohort Study

This four-year observational study involves three sites in the United States and England.  The Sickle Cell Anemia Sleep & Asthma Cohort Study (SAC) is a research study that will try to determine how asthma, with or without low levels of oxygen during sleep, causes an increase in pain episodes or lung complications in children with sickle cell anemia.

 The Never Lost Study

The Never Lost Study is a multisite study aimed at genomics and proteomics research for patients with sickle cell disease.  The NLS is an observational study that will follow both adult and pediatric sickle cell patients at multiple sites in the United States and Canada for up to 30 years. The study is funded by a Burroughs Wellcome Fund grant, awarded to Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, serving as the coordinating center with Michael DeBaun, MD, MPH, Professor of Pediatrics, Biostatistics and Neurology, as principal investigator.