Dr. Alexis Thompson is Chief, Division of Hematology at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. She is also Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine and holds the Elias Schwartz MD Endowed Chair in Hematology. Previously, Dr. Thompson was the Hematology Section Head at Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago in Chicago, Illinois and held the A. Watson and Sarah Armour Endowed Chair for Blood Diseases and Cancer. For over 12 years, Dr. Thompson was Associate Director for Equity and Minority Health at the Northwestern’s Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center. Her research interests include hemoglobinopathies (thalassemia and sickle cell disease), and stem cell transplantation in pediatric patients, including gene therapy. Her most significant scientific contributions are clinical and translation studies to better understand and treat hemoglobinopathies, leading to landmark findings in the field. She has been a leader in multicenter collaborations, such as the NHLBI-funded Thalassemia Clinical Research Network and the Sickle Cell Disease Implementation Consortium. She has served on regional and national on advisory committees for governmental agencies as well as non-profit organizations focused on improving healthcare access, increasing workforce diversity and reducing health disparities. As a leader of the American Society of Hematology (ASH), including ASH President in 2018, Dr. Thompson helped to develop a comprehensive report on the current state of clinical care for SCD in an effort to identify unmet medical needs, launch a national sickle cell data collection platform and create a sickle cell learning community to improve outcomes. She is also leading efforts to implement newborn screening and early intervention efforts in sub-Saharan Africa, where the burden of SCD is profound.
Thursday, November 2, 2023
4:30 PM – 6:00 PM MST