Michael DeBaun, MD, MPH
Pediatric Hematologist
Director, Sickle Cell Disease Program
St. Louis Children’s Hospital
- Helped launch Sickle Cell Sabbath, a spiritual outreach program led by Washington University School of Medicine that educates the African-American faith community about sickle cell disease and the importance of blood donations.
- Established two international registries focused on better defining the natural history and genetic basis of two pediatric overgrowth syndromes with predispositions to cancer, Beckwith-Wiedemann and Simpson-Golabi-Behmel syndromes.
- Dr. DeBaun was recently elected to the board of the Sickle Cell Disease Association of America.
- Research interests include the epidemiology and treatment of strokes in sickle cell disease and the epidemiology of pediatric genetic cancer predisposition syndromes.
- An associate professor of pediatrics, biostatistics and neurology at Washington University School of Medicine.
Notable Quotes from Dr. DeBaun
Dr. DeBaun on the importance of promoting awareness of sickle cell disease:
“Sickle cell disease has been under the radar for far too long. We need to shine the national spotlight on this disease by empowering people with knowledge and groundbreaking research that will lead to a cure.”
Dr. DeBaun on his efforts to increase the number of African-American blood donors:
“Children with sickle cell disease who are predominantly African-Americans often have subtle differences in red blood cell proteins that make it more likely that the best-matched donor will come from someone with a similar ethnic background.”
Dr. DeBaun discusses his research on Beckwith Wiedemann syndrome (BWS), a rare congenital disorder affecting 350 newborns a year in the United States:
“This is a fascinating area because we are combining two areas of investigation, classic epidemiology and molecular biology, for a better understanding of cancer in these unique groups of children.”