A test to measure how sickle hemoglobin clumps inside individual red blood cells
Development of platform technology to measure kinetics and equilibrium concentration of sickle hemoglobin polymerization in single RBCs for drug potency assessment and patient risk stratification
This project is building a lab test that measures how and how fast sickle hemoglobin forms inside red blood cells to help guide treatment choices for people with sickle cell disease.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Massachusetts General Hospital NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Boston, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11305213 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
You would give a small blood sample or send a blood specimen to the research lab so scientists can study your red blood cells. The team is developing a platform that watches single red blood cells under low-oxygen conditions and measures both the amount and the speed of sickle hemoglobin polymer formation. They will test how different drugs or treatment conditions reduce polymer load in those cells. The goal is to use those measurements to compare drug potency and help predict a patient’s risk of vaso-occlusion and related complications.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: People with sickle cell disease who are willing to provide small blood samples, including those on or considering hemoglobin-modifying or gene-based therapies, are ideal candidates.
Not a fit: People without sickle cell disease or those unwilling to provide blood samples are unlikely to receive direct benefit from this diagnostic-development work.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this could help doctors and researchers pick and dose therapies more accurately and identify patients at higher risk of complications.
How similar studies have performed: Related laboratory studies have characterized sickle hemoglobin behavior ex vivo, but a routine single-cell platform for drug potency testing and patient risk stratification is novel and not yet widely validated.
Where this research is happening
Boston, United States
- Massachusetts General Hospital — Boston, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Higgins, John Matthew — Massachusetts General Hospital
- Study coordinator: Higgins, John Matthew
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page below.