Dr. Uma Athale is a pediatric hematologist oncologist and professor at McMaster University and McMaster Children's Hospital. Her clinical interests are pediatric leukemias and hemoglobinopathy. She was a co-founder of the Pediatric and Adult Joint Lifespan Hemoglobinopathy Clinic at McMaster University and Hamilton Health Sciences. She's the chair of the disease-specific Working Group for Hemoglobinopathy of Ontario Newborn Screening Program, and on the Advisory Committee for the same. She is actively involved in global health, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa. She is a consultant to various projects in Sub-Saharan Africa, including sickle hemoglobinopathy research in Zimbabwe and Zambia. She is receiving funding support from CIHR, the Heart and Stroke Foundation, as well as C17 Research Network. She is currently developing a tiered curriculum for healthcare providers at different levels in the care of sickle cell disease.
In this week's core session of Grand Rounds, she will review the challenges and successes of developing a joint pediatric and adult hemoglobinopathy program to provide lifelong care for patients with sickle cell disease and thalassemia.