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Congratulations to Dr. Enrico Novelli who was recently awarded a new NHLBI R01.  As co-PI with former VMI colleague Dr. Carolyn Anderson, Dr. Novelli has been awarded annual direct costs of over $350,000 for his grant titled, “PET Imaging of Vaso-Occlussive Crisis in Sickle Cell Disease.” This proposal was submitted in response to the competitive funding opportunity titled NIH Research Project Grant (Parent R01) under funding opportunity number PA-20-183.

Public Health Relevance Statement/Project Narrative Sickle cell disease affects millions of people worldwide, and is characterized by painful vaso-occlusive crises (VOC) that cause great morbidity and mortality. Although the main molecular mechanisms causing VOC are known, there are no ways to image them in humans, which hampers clinical research and care. We propose that positron emission tomography (PET) imaging targeting important molecules responsible for VOC will allow precision medicine approaches to transform clinical care, and new endpoints for clinical research of this disease that primarily affects underserved, minority populations in the US and elsewhere.