In January, Penn Medicine announced its union with the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) to establish the Penn-CHOP Blood Center for Patient Care and Discovery, which is being positioned as that region's first dedicated center for the treatment and research of blood diseases. The center will combine the expertise of physicians who specialize in the care of blood disorder patients of all ages, along with basic science and clinical researchers who are working to advance treatments.
The Penn-CHOP Blood Center for Patient Care and Discovery will bring together a multi-disciplinary team of experts to provide cutting-edge patient care and research for diseases including sickle cell disease, thalassemia, bone marrow failure, and bleeding and clotting disorders. One of the top priorities for the new center will be to ease the transitions of patients from pediatric to adult care.
Included in this enterprise will be the Perelman School of Medicine hematology faculty from both Penn Medicine and CHOP, who will work closely with pathology, laboratory and transfusion medicine physicians and scientists, pharmacologists and investigators in Penn's Abramson Cancer Center, the Institute for Translational Medicine and Therapeutics and the Penn Cardiovascular Institute, and others.
"Care for blood disorders spans many different areas of medicine, but patients with these illnesses are often not able to access or coordinate the range of specialists needed to best manage their care," said Charles Abrams, MD, professor and associate chief of hematology-oncology, who will serve as director of the new center. "Penn Medicine's expertise in both clinical care and research for hematologic conditions provides us with a solid foundation to enhance options for patients. We hope to serve as a center for research and discovery and as an incubator for the most promising new approaches to preventing, diagnosing and treating these illnesses."
Source: Penn Medicine news release dated January 14, 2013
