2020 CDC FWGBD SCD Women’s Reproductive Health Workshop

The purpose of this Workshop was to convene leading experts/researchers/clinicians to better understand the issues, and review current practices and evidence-based information to determine the optimal clinical management of women with SCD across the lifespan. The initial outcome of the meeting will be a summary of the recommended strategies and next steps for the optimal treatment and management of women with SCD. We would expect the long-term impact of the workshop to be improved outcomes for women with SCD. The meeting was co-organized in partnership with the Division of Blood Disorders at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). It was supported in part from Novartis.

The Organizers:

The Division of Blood Disorders at the Centers for Disease Control (CDC)

As part of its mission, the Division of Blood Disorders at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention works to prevent complications of bleeding disorders and other blood disorders such as sickle cell disease. One of the major activities in this mission involves collecting data (surveillance) on these disorders in order to better understand the clinical/public health determents that include risk factors, outcomes, quality of life, barriers to treatment and disease burdens. One fundamental way we do this is to bring together key stakeholders such as clinicians and clinician-researchers to better understand the issues and determine what information is needed to better understand the overall condition.

The Foundation for Women & Girls with Blood Disorders

Meeting Participants: Hematologists and Obstetrician/Gynecologists, Clinicians and Researchers who are experts in SCD and SCT and women’s reproductive health

Proposed Meeting Objectives and Goals:

• to convene top experts in the fields of Hematology and Obstetrics/Gynecology, who are working in sickle cell disease and women’s blood disorders
• to review the state of the science with respect to women with SCD and SCT
• to recognize the range of complications related to SCD and SCT for women across the life span
• to examine the full range of options for the optimal treatment and management of SCD and SCT in women
• to develop a summary paper of meeting outcomes as well as research gaps
• to effectively disseminate best practices in the care of women with SCD and SCT
• to describe, underscore for target healthcare providers the intersection of obstetrics /gynecology and hematology in the optimal care of these women and develop mechanisms for facilitating the collaboration of these specialties

Co-Chairs and Faculty:

Craig Hooper, PhD
Director, Division of Blood Disorders
CDC Atlanta, GA

Andra H. James, MD, MPH 
Professor, Obstetrics & Gynecology, Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine
Consulting Professor of Medicine, Hematology
Duke University Medical Center Durham, NC
FWGBD Founding Board President 

Kim Smith-Whitley, MD
Director, Comprehensive Sickle Cell Center
Clinical Director, Division of Hematology
Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
Associate Professor of Pediatrics
Perelman School of Medicine
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA

Lydia H. Pecker, MD
Assistant Professor of Medicine, Pediatric Hematology
Assistant Professor of Gynecology and Obstetrics
Johns Hopkins University
Baltimore, MD

Mary Hulihan, DrPH
Division of Blood DIsorders, CDC
Atlanta, GA

Sheree Lynn Boulet, DrPH, MPH
Emory University
Atlanta, GA

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