MD-PhD student Vijay G. Sankaran’s graduate research is featured in the December 19th issue of the journal Science

Here is a short description:

Increased levels of fetal hemoglobin are known to ameliorate both sickle cell disease and beta-thalassemia. In this article, a new transcription factor regulating the expression of fetal hemoglobin was identified and provides an important target for therapies to treat sickle cell disease and beta-thalassemia. http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/1165409

Of note, several MD-PhD faculty members provided help and guidance with this work (Stuart Orkin, MD, Alan Cantor, MD, PhD, Joel Hirschhorn, MD, PhD). An accompanying commentary in the same issue is written by a former MD-PhD program student (from Stu Orkin's lab) and faculty member, Alan Michelson, MD, PhD, who is now at NIH.

Read more about this research in FOCUS: http://focus.hms.harvard.edu/2009/010909/hematology.shtml