Illinois Medicine

Sickle Cell Center," she says. "Patients have found out more about their health because there is a better understanding of how sickle cell works and how to minimize symptoms." Damiano Rondelli, MD, the director of the section's stem cell transplantation program, has directed his research toward sickle cell disease, with dramatic results: Four of the center's most complicated patients with sickle cell anemia essentially have been cured with stem-cell transplants. Rondelli and his team have radically reduced their risk of death from the procedure by employing a regimen that changes the immune response and improves patients' tolerance of the transplant. Joseph DeSimone, PhD, has capitalized on the clinical observation that sickle cell patients with higher levels of fetal hemoglobin (Hb F) that persist into adulthood have milder courses of sickle cell disease and live longer. In the lab, he has been studying the regulation of Hb F at the molecular and cellular level as well as the effects of the drug decitabine on increasing hemoglobin F synthesis. His research with Donald Lavelle, PhD, is now being translated to human patients, who are being treated with decitabine to increase hemoglobin F in the red blood cells, thereby reducing sickling of the cells and preventing complications such as acute chest syndrome, a type of respiratory failure particular to sickle cell. One out of every 500 African-Americans has sickle cell disease, while one of every 12 is a carrier. Given the population Illinois Medicine largely serves, the Sickle Cell Center is also a prime example of the college's emphasis on addressing health care disparities, a concept that the CCTS also stresses in multidepartment and cross-college collaborations across the Chicago campus. "Creating the [CCTS] made a big difference on this campus, but we're not done," says Larry Tobacman, MD, senior associate dean for research and CCTS co-director. "When the first discussions took place, people would stand up and say that UIC research occurs in many separate silos. Investigators were unable to connect productively with each other. But now, such views are the exception rather than the rule. Furthermore, even basic scientists know the importance of translational application of their discoveries. The CCTS has very wide support." What is the CCTS? Center builds infrastructure for bench-to-bedside connections The UIC Center for Clinical and Translational Science has three overarching mandates: education, research support and the facilitation of novel and collaborative approaches to clinical and translational research. The CCTS includes five research service cores: Design and Analysis; Clinical Interface; Biomedical Informatics; Regulatory Support, Advocacy and Bioethics Core; and Community Engagement. Researchers around the College of Medicine and across the Chicago campus, who enter into multidepartment and inter-college collaborations, rely on support services such as study design, regulatory support, biomedical informatics and community engagement. The CCTS also provides clinical research facilities and sponsors a pilot grant program, a distinguished lecture series and daylong transdisciplinary seminars to stimulate innovation and collaboration. These goals allow for clinical translational research at the University of Illinois to benefit patients, our investigators and the entire university. Fur th er In f orm at i on Center for Clinical and Translational Research: www.ccts.uic.edu National Center for Advancing Translational Science: www.ncats.nih.gov Photo: Diane LipidRescue™ Resuscitation: www.lipidrescue.org The LaDu Research Lab: http://ladulab.anat.uic.edu Sm u t n y The UIC Center for Sickle Cell Disease: http://hospital.uillinois.edu/ Patient_Care_Services/Sickle_Cell.html Pictured above is the hard-working CCTS team that helps to bring the bench and bedside closer together across the Chicago campus. 28 | Spr i n g 2 013

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