We are dedicated to providing quality care and finding new treatments for patients with sickle cell disease

Since the inception of the UAB Sickle Cell Clinic in 1983, UAB has played a major role in sickle cell disease in Alabama—from diagnosis, to education, to patient care, to research, to engagement with the sickle cell community. In 1995, the University of Alabama Board of Trustees officially renamed the program and designated the UAB Comprehensive Sickle Cell Center as a university-wide interdisciplinary research center. 

One of the strongest partners UAB has in the fight against sickle cell disease is Children’s of Alabama. For over thirty years, UAB has collaborated with Children’s in a unique pediatric network of regional comprehensive sickle cell clinics that are within driving distance from Birmingham. The Children and Youth Sickle Network™ was developed under the leadership of Dr. Thomas Howard through a series of Health Resources and Services Administration grants as a collaboration of local pediatricians, hospitals, community-based organizations, and university hematologists. Through these satellite locations, many rural patients were able to overcome transportation barriers to care. The population in treatment doubled within five years of the network expansion, and the incidence stroke and mortality among sickle cell patients declined by 90 percent.

Today, the Center is actively expanding its footprint to reach all of Alabama to achieve its mission of relieving suffering and enhancing quality of life for sickle cell patients and their families. The Center will operate as the hub of the Sickle Cell Disease Network of Central Alabama under the co-leadership of Drs. Julie Kanter and Jeffrey Lebensburger.