Professor Biree Andemariam
Biree Andemariam, M.D. is Professor of Medicine and the American Red Cross Endowed Chair in Transfusion Medicine at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine. In addition to being an internationally recognized clinician, educator, and advocate, she is a physician scientist in the Division of Hematology/Oncology, Founding Director of the New England Sickle Cell Institute (NESCI), and Director of the Connecticut Bleeding Disorders Center. NESCI’s mission is to provide a medical home for adults with SCD as well as a transition destination for children with SCD. In addition to treating over 350 adults with SCD, the center is also home to numerous clinical and translational research studies. Dr. Andemariam has been lead principal investigator of 3 global SCD clinical trials and has extensive experience in clinical trial design, endpoint development, recruitment, and implementation. During the COVID-19 global crisis, she mobilized and chaired an international committee of experts in the development and worldwide dissemination of guidelines on managing patients with SCD during the pandemic. Dr. Andemariam is past Chief Medical Officer of the Sickle Cell Disease Association of America, Inc. During her tenure at the SCDAA, she was awarded the Chairman’s Award three times (2019, 2020, 2022) for her outstanding and dedicated board service centered around national programmatic development, disease education/awareness, and legislative advocacy. She is a member of the 2023 Lancet Commission, a global group of experts selected to develop and publish a set of recommendations to achieve greater political commitment, investment, and partnerships to improve the lives of patients with sickle cell disease globally by 2040. She has served as a member of the steering committee of the Academy for Sickle Cell and Thalassaemia since 2016 and chair of the scientific committee since 2024. She is a proud Eritrean and ecstatic to see the Global Congress on Sickle Cell Disease return to Africa.