Figure 1. Portraits of Yaw (left) and Aaron (right)

The Rivers Lab would like to welcome Yaw Ansong Jnr and Aaron Featherstone!

Yaw Ansong Jnr is a physician-scientist from Ghana who is currently pursuing his Ph.D. in biomedical engineering at the University of California, Berkeley and San Francisco. He received his M.D. from the University of Cape Coast and his M.S. from the University of New Haven. Yaw is a founder of a medical diagnostics company that aims to fix health disparities faced by individuals with sickle cell disease.

Aaron is a rising junior pursuing a degree in Biology at Texas Christian University. He aspires to be a physician practicing pediatrics or neurosurgery. During his free time, Aaron enjoys playing basketball or chess, reading his Bible, and spending time with his family. A fun fact about Aaron is that he has lived in 5 different states. Additionally he has attended 4 different middle schools his 8th grade year and three different schools throughout high school and college.

The Rivers Lab will be hosting Yaw in collaboration with the Nguyen Lab. Aaron is a part of the UCSF Summer Student Research Program and will be spending 9-weeks with us.

Additionally, effective July 17th 2023, we would like to say farewell to Mikail Alejandro.

Mikail has spent the past year researching the role of mitochondrial retention in red blood cells from pedatric populations of sickle cell disease. Throughout his time he has developed and optimized protocols, taken on the tasks of a clinical research coordinator, and helped advanced our research. We wish him the best as he explores a new opportunity with the Lim Lab at the UCSF Cell Design Institute.

Our manuscript "Reticulocyte mitochondrial retention increases reactive oxygen species and oxygen consumption in mouse models of sickle cell disease and phlebotomy-induced anemia," has been recently published into the Journal of Experimental Hematology. 

Highlights are as followed:

• Reticulocytes and erythrocytes containing mitochondria in sickle cell disease mice exhibit elevated levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and increased oxygen consumption.
• Stress erythropoiesis in phlebotomized, anemic AA mice increases the fraction of reticulocytes and erythrocytes that retain mitochondria and high levels of ROS, regardless of an underlying hemolytic disorder.
• The oxygen consumption rate increases in mitochondria-retaining erythrocytes and reticulocytes.

 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.exphem.2023.02.005

Episode Description
Sickle cell treatments have developed slowly, but partnerships, collaboration, and the scientific revolution of CRISPR gene therapy is offering new promise. How have treatments developed and what are the issues that come with a big step forward? This episode examines the science behind sickle cell therapies, and the potential of a new clinical trial in Oakland.

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Angela Rivers, Associate Professor of Pediatrics has been named a John A. Watson Faculty Scholar, a highly-competitive and prestigious UCSF award.

Click here to read more about the prize