New York Blood Center Enterprises (NYBCe) is proud to announce that The Iron Research Laboratory at its Lindsley F. Kimball Research Institute (LFKRI) has been named a recipient of the prestigious Cooley’s Anemia Foundation Medical Research Fellowship. This marks the third consecutive year that the Iron Research Laboratory has received this distinguished fellowship.
Shobana Navaneethabalakrishnan, PhD, a postdoctoral research fellow at the Iron Research Lab, has recently been honored with the prestigious fellowship. This accolade follows the recognition of NYBCe’s Francesca Vinchi, PhD, Assistant Professor and Head of the Laboratory of Iron Research, who was a recipient in previous years. The current fellowship award will fund research on beta-thalassemia, a group of inherited blood disorders characterized by anemia with low hemoglobin and red blood cells.
The Cooley’s Anemia Foundation is dedicated to serving individuals afflicted with various forms of thalassemia, most notably Cooley’s anemia/thalassemia major. The foundation’s mission is to advance the treatment and cure for this fatal blood disease, enhance the quality of life for patients, and educate the medical profession, trait carriers, and the public about Cooley’s anemia/thalassemia major.
Within the awarded project, Shobana will explore the role of heme and iron-activated macrophages in the pathophysiology of beta-thalassemia, with the aim to uncover novel cellular and molecular mechanisms contributing to the disease. “Ultimately, the study will provide insights for the development of innovative therapeutic strategies targeting inflammation and activated macrophages to improve beta-thalassemia patient outcomes,” says Francesca Vinchi PhD.
NYBCe has longstanding leadership in addressing blood disorders through various impactful humanitarian initiatives. These include advancing groundbreaking discoveries with exceptional research, supplying blood products and services for conditions with anemias, expanding donor collections for rare blood types, facilitating bone marrow matches between donors and patients, and collaborating with awareness organizations to provide education, advocacy, referral services, and support for individuals and families affected by blood disorders. The continuous support by Cooley’s Anemia Foundation empowers NYBCe’s mission of advancing the future of human health with innovative basic and translational research.
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