Elliott Vichinsky, MD
Division Chief, Hematology/Oncology
UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital
C.H.O.R.I
Children’s Hospital Oakland Research Institiute
Oakland, CA
Elliott Vichinsky, MD diagnoses and treats children with blood disorders, cancers and tumors. He founded and directs the largest hemoglobinopathy center of sickle cell disease and thalassemia in North America. The center is dedicated to developing therapy to treat and cure the 200,000 infants born worldwide each year with sickle cell or thalassemia. He has been instrumental in implementing newborn screening programs for blood diseases in California and throughout the world. He is working with the World Health Organization in studying the worldwide public health problem of thalassemia and sickle cell disease.
Dr. Vichinsky was responsible for the development of the Blood and Marrow Transplantation Program, which has cured hundreds of children who had sickle cell anemia, thalassemia, and various cancers. He has developed techniques that make blood safer for chronically transfused patients. These patients often suffer from iron overload as a result of either transfusion therapy or genetic mutations. Iron overload causes thousands of deaths each year. Dr. Vichinsky has been an international leader in developing drugs to remove excess iron and non-invasive equipment to measure iron in the body.
Awarded the Outstanding Career Scientist Award by Children’s, Dr. Vichinsky has been a leader investigating novel drugs that turn on hemoglobin-producing genes which enable sickle cell disease and thalassemia patients to produce their own healthy blood. He has authored and co-authored more than 300 articles in peer-reviewed journals, four books, and is Editor-in-Chief of the journal Pediatric Hematology/Oncology. He has been the principal investigator on more than 40 major research projects and has given countless presentations around the world about blood disorders. Dr. Vichinsky can discuss the latest advances in hematology, blood disorders such as sickle cell and thalassemia, transfusion medicine and iron overload.
Professional Achievements
Oakland Magazine Best East Bay Doctors 2009-2010 (nat’l survey)
Medical Director, National Cooley’s Anemia Foundation
Director, Northern California Thalassemia Center and the Comprehensive Sickle Cell Center
Chair, NIH Thalassemia Clinical Research Network
Adjunct professor of pediatrics, UCSF
Co-chair, Children’s Hospital Oakland Research Institute bio-iron program
Lifetime Achievement Award, Sickle Cell Disease Foundation of California
Miracle Maker Award, Children’s Miracle Network
Professional Organizations
Member, American Federation of Clinical Research
Member, American Society of Gene Therapy
Member, American Society of Hematology
Member, American Society of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology
Member, American Pediatric Society
Member, Society of Pediatric Research