Last month, co-directors of the UAB Lifespan Comprehensive Sickle Cell Center Julie Kanter, M.D., (Associate Professor, Hematology and Oncology) and Jeffrey Lebensburger, D.O., (Professor, Pediatric Hematology and Oncology) celebrated the opening of the new Adult Comprehensive Sickle Cell Clinic. The new beautifully designed clinic, located in UAB's Russell Clinic, is a spacious multi-professional facility that has more exam rooms, updated infusion spaces, and an increased ability to serve patients with sickle cell disease. Kanter and Lebensburger are excited about what these improvements mean for their lifelong patients.
In 2019, Julie Kanter, M.D., was recruited to the UAB Division of Hematology and Oncology as the Director of the Adult Sickle Cell Clinic and Co-director of the Comprehensive Sickle Cell Center where she coordinates university-wide efforts to provide medical care to patients with sickle cell disease, conduct research to improve treatment, and provide education about sickle cell disease to health care providers, patients and the community. In 2021, Kanter led a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine that suggests a gene therapy called LentiGlobin could provide a permanent cure for sickle cell disease.
In 2009, Jeffrey Lebensburger, D.O., joined the Division of Pediatric Hematology, Oncology, and Bone Marrow Transplantation. He has served as Chair for the American Society of Hematology (ASH) Clinical Research Training Institute and recently assumed the role of Director of the Office of Faculty Development. Lebensburger’s primary clinical focus involves caring for children with blood disorders, including sickle cell disease, thalassemia, bleeding disorders, disorders of iron metabolism, and marrow failure syndromes.