Public Health Webinar Series on Blood Disorders – 2020

December 10, 2020

Steven Pipe, MD
Chair, Medical and Scientific Advisory Council, National Hemophilia Foundation
Director, Division of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology
Pediatric Medical Director, Hemophilia and Coagulation Disorders Program
Director, Special Coagulation Laboratory University of Michigan

Margaret Ragni, MD, MPH
Professor of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh Department of Medicine, Division of Hematology/Oncology
Professor of Clinical Translational Science at the Clinical Translational Science Institute, University of Pittsburgh
Director, Hemophilia Center of Western Pennsylvania

Manuel Carcao, MD
Pediatric Hematologist/Oncologist
Professor of Pediatrics
The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Canada

Glenn Pierce, MD, PhD
Vice President, Medical, World Federation of Hemophilia (WFH)
WFH USA Board Member

Overview of World Federation of Hemophilia Treatment Guidelines, 3rd Editionexternal icon

In this webinar, we provide an overview of the WFH Treatment Guidelines, 3rd edition, and discuss the unprecedented progress made in hemophilia diagnosis and treatment. We focus on three sections that have seen the greatest evolution since the 2nd edition and showcase their potential to impact the management of hemophilia.

November 5, 2020

Farzana Sayani, MD, MSc
Assistant Professor of Medicine Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Director, Penn Comprehensive Adult Thalassemia Program

Evaluation and Management of Fertility in Thalassemiaexternal icon

As thalassemia care is improving, more individuals with thalassemia are reaching adulthood with aspirations to start a family of their own. However, infertility is one of the major complications of iron overload in patients with thalassemia.

In this webinar, Dr. Sayani reviews the causes of infertility in individuals with thalassemia. She also discusses methods to preserve and evaluate fertility, management options for infertility, and other options available to start a family.

October 13, 2020

Beverley Hunt, MD, OBE
Chair, World Thrombosis Day
King’s College, London

Lana Castellucci, MD, FRCPC, MSc
University of Ottowa
Ottowa, Canada

Alex C. Spyropoulos, MD, FACP, FRCPC
Northwell Health
New York City, New York

Claire McLintock, MD, OBE
National Women’s Health
Auckland City Hospital
Auckland, New Zealand

COVID-19 and Coagulopathy

This webinar, cohosted by the International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis and the Centers for Disease Control (Division of Blood Disorders), provides an overview on COVID-19 and coagulopathy.

September 17, 2020

David Garcia, MD
Associate Medical Director of Anti-Thrombotic Therapy at the University of Washington Medical Center
Professor of Medicine, Division of Hematology, UW School of Medicine
Associate Investigator, Versiti Blood Research Institute

Kristen M. Sanfilippo, MD, MPHS
Assistant Professor of Medicine, Division of Hematology, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis
Staff Physician, Division of Hematology/Oncology, John Cochran Veterans Administration Medical Center St. Louis

Adam Cuker, MD, MS
Associate Professor of Medicine and of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania
Director, Penn Comprehensive Hemophilia and Thrombosis Program

Update on COVID-19 and Thrombosis Riskexternal icon

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the causative agent of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), has now spread to more than 180 countries. As of August 2, 2020, more than 17 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 and more than 680,000 associated deaths have been reported worldwide.

Peer-reviewed reports from centers in several different parts of the world have raised the concern that the risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE) may be unusually high in patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection, even when standard pharmacologic prophylaxis is administered.

However, the published evidence varies with respect to the magnitude of risk increase, and there are still many unanswered questions, including:

• What are the mechanisms by which this virus may promote venous thrombosis more than other infectious diseases that cause critical illness?
• Should higher-intensity anticoagulant therapy be used in some patients or would thrombosis prevention strategies (e.g. anti-inflammatory or immunosuppressive agents) be more effective?
• Would the benefits of post-discharge VTE pharmacologic prophylaxis outweigh the risks after hospitalization for COVID-19?

In this webinar, the presenters address these questions and describe what is currently known about the risk of COVID-19 and thrombosis.

July 16, 2020

Veronica H. Flood, MD
Professor of Pediatrics, Division of Hematology/Oncology, Medical College of Wisconsin
Associate Medical Director, Comprehensive Center for Bleeding Disorders
Associate Investigator, Versiti Blood Research Institute

2020 Science Update: Diagnosis of von Willebrand Disease in the United Statesexternal icon

In this webinar, Dr. Flood will review the diagnostic approach to von Willebrand Disease (VWD), including the assessment of bleeding history and the utilization of laboratory measurements, as well as the challenges and advances to this approach. She will also share insights from the Zimmerman Program for the Molecular and Clinical Biology of VWD, a national study of VWD in the United States.

June 18, 2020

Sujit Sheth, MD
Harold Weill Professor, Chief of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology, and Vice Chair for Clinical Research, Department of Pediatrics, Weill Cornell Medicine
Director, New York Comprehensive Thalassemia Center, New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center

Overview of Novel Thalassemia Treatments

The thalassemia syndromes are among the most common genetic disorders. Homozygous or compound heterozygotes have a wide spectrum of clinical severity, with the most severe requiring regular blood transfusions to maintain health and prevent morbidity. Transfusion-associated iron overload and its complications result in significant morbidity and mortality, thus disease-modifying treatments are a major unmet need in the management of these individuals.

During the past five years, novel approaches to treatment have been possible with advances in technology. In this webinar, Dr. Sheth will discuss the basic pathophysiology of the disease and specific targets for novel therapies. He will review data from trials of the newer agents aimed at reducing or abolishing the transfusion burden and mention additional strategies that are in early stage development that have the potential to completely change the landscape of thalassemia care.

Andrea Darzi, MD, MPH, PhD Candidate
Project Coordinator, Cochrane Canada
Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence,   and Impact
McMaster University
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

Selection of a Risk Assessment Model for VTE Prevention in Hospitalized Medical Patientsexternal icon

Venous thromboembolism (VTE), comprising deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism, has an annual incidence in adult populations of approximately 1 per 1,000, and is a major burden in hospitalized medical patients. The risk of hospital-acquired VTE is reduced by using pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions, but these interventions are not without potential patient harms.

Risk assessment models (RAMs) have been developed and employed to stratify hospitalized medically ill patients according to their risk of having VTE or a clinically significant bleeding event. Stratum-specific strategies optimizing patient management to prevent both VTE and bleeding events are recommended. RAMs are developed using data registries but ideally should also be informed by a systematic synthesis of all current evidence of potential risk factors.

In this webinar, Drs. Schünemann and Darzi will present the process and findings of a systematic review and a novel approach they conducted to identify risk factors for VTE and bleeding in hospitalized medical patients and develop RAMs. They will also highlight how these findings inform patient management, the validation of RAMs for hospitalized medical patients, and future guideline recommendations.

Margaret Ragni, MD, MPH
Professor of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh Department of Medicine, Division of Hematology/Oncology
Professor of Clinical Translational Science at the Clinical Translational Science Institute University of Pittsburgh
Director, Hemophilia Center of Western Pennsylvania

Science Update: Inhibitor State of the Science Meetingexternal icon

Inhibitor formation is a serious complication of hemophilia treatment that occurs in 30% of patients at highest risk – youth with severe hemophilia A.  To develop a road map for needed research in this area, working groups met in 2019 at a State of the Science Symposium at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.

In this webinar, Drs. Pipe and Ragni discuss the progress and challenges in the design and implementation of research studies to prevent and eradicate inhibitors.

View the presentation slidesexternal icon