Dr. Campbell’s work both domestically and internationally on Sickle Cell Disease was featured by Children’s National internal news. Read the feature below!
Meet the Director of our Comprehensive Sickle Cell Disease Program: Andrew Campbell, M.D.
Andrew Campbell, M.D., is the director of the Comprehensive Sickle Cell Disease Program and Director of Research for our Global Health Initiative. He joined our Children’s National community in July 2017, having previously been the Director of the University of Michigan Sickle Cell Day Hospital Unit.
Dr. Campbell, a DC-area native, became interested in medicine at a young age, after seeing first-hand the impact the disease can have on a community. “Growing up, I watched a lot of my parents’ friends die from things like blood disorders and other acute illnesses. I was really struck by the lack of treatment that exists for various diseases,” he says. This interest in medicine has evolved into a career centered around helping people with sickle cell disease, an inherited blood disorder characterized by defective hemoglobin- a protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen to the tissues of the body.
Sickle cell disease primarily affects individuals of African descent and Hispanics of Caribbean ancestry. It has been estimated that between 90,000 and 100,000 people in the United States are affected by sickle cell anemia and that around ten percent of African-Americans have sickle cell trait. Sickle cell disease is a prominent issue in the US, but Dr. Campbell explains that it is even more prominent internationally, which is why sickle cell global health is a topic that he is passionate about.
“The resources that we have to understand diseases like sickle cell are disproportionally allocated internationally. 75 percent of the burden of sickle cell disease is on sub-Saharan Africa, but the health disparities between African countries and the US is extreme,” says Dr. Campbell. “Every year, the number of infants born with sickle cell in Nigeria is about the same as the total number of sickle cell patients that we have here in the US.” This disparity is why Dr. Campbell has focused his research efforts in recent years on international studies that are aimed at understanding the varied expression of sickle cell disease in various international populations, a research topic that has proven to be applicable to his work in the Comprehensive Sickle Cell Disease Program as well as the Global Health Initiative.
Dr. Campbell was motivated to join Children’s because of our organizations’ reputation. “This is an area with excellent resources and a great sickle cell program with a large population. Children’s is home to a special group of healthcare providers that I thought I could help lead,” he says of his decision to come to Children’s. “I wanted to help build upon this program’s strong foundation of excellent clinical care and research.”
When asked about what he loves most about Children’s, Dr. Campbell praises his team. “Working with my team is the best part about my experience at Children’s. Everyone is so hard-working and always gives 110 percent, all for our patients.” He continues by saying, “and of course, it is so rewarding to work with the patients and families who suffer from sickle cell disease. They carry a burden, and we are privileged to care for them.”
When Dr. Campbell isn’t caring for our patients and families in the Comprehensive Sickle Cell Disease Program or participating in global research efforts, he can be found spending time with his children, 12 and 7 years old, and his wife, who is also in medicine. He loves being outdoors, and enjoys activities such as bike riding, playing tennis, hiking, jet-skiing and canoeing.
Dr. Campbell completed his residency in general pediatrics at Massachusetts General Hospital in 1999, followed by a fellowship in pediatric hematology and oncology at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago, IL, in 2002. In addition to his role at Children’s, Dr. Campbell serves as an Associate Professor of Pediatrics at George Washington University School of Medicine. He is also the Director of the Consortium for the Advancement of Sickle Cell Disease Research (CASiRe), an international research collaboration between sickle cell experts in the US, UK, Italy and Ghana.
Thank you, Dr. Campbell, for all that you do for our Children’s National community!
View Dr. Campbell’s Global Health Profile here.
