Key drivers of the team’s research are the recent breakthroughs in nuclear medical tracers and advanced studies utilizing laboratory mice. Dr. Carolyn Anderson, a professor in the Department of Radiology whose expertise includes translating mouse studies into medical protocols appropriate for people, believes that the researchers are very close to being able to accurately and rapidly image the actions that cause sickle cell pain at the molecular level. “The important thing about this grant is that it is bringing together people like myself and Enrico, who is a clinical medical doctor,” Anderson says. “In nuclear medicine, we image the biochemistry and physiology, so it's a very active process. Changes that happen at a molecular level happen long before you can see changes on an anatomical level.” Novelli says that a complex network of players is essential to continued progress. “We now have therapies — drugs that target these molecules and these events.” Because of the research with mouse stud- ies, he says, “there has finally been a revolution in sickle cell disease research. We are on the cusp of a cure by way of treatment that would become widely available.” The researchers say that The Pittsburgh Foundation grant will move the work more quickly from mouse models to humans. Upcoming multi-center clinical trials will enlist African American adults in western Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia to test the accuracy of the methodology developed at the institute. While about 500 people are currently referred to UPMC for treatment, not all of them will be part of the study. “If this project is successful,” Novelli says, “it will lead to a better understanding of the disease in humans and restore credibility to the patients who present with pain, and it will improve the relationship between health care providers and patients. It has far-reaching consequences.” by Tony Norman | columnist at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette One fundamental problem related to sickle cell pain crisis is that it is not visible. People may be in pain, but there's no outward, physical sign that can be seen by medical providers. DR. ENRICO NOVELLI T H E P I T T S B U R G H F O U N D AT I O N 1 8 F O R U M