Description
This presentation focuses on omics and other tools used to
understand pain in sickle cell disease. We will review how key discoveries in
SCD research over the years have been translated to change how we treat the
disease and the whole-person.
Contributors
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Keesha Roach, PhD
Dr. Keesha Roach is an early career nurse scientist with a passion to understand and address acute and chronic pain in patients living with sickle cell disease. She is an Assistant Professor at The University of Tennessee Health Science Center with a joint appointment in Genetics, Genomics and Informatics, and the College of Nursing. Her research focuses on the characterization of pain phenotypes, associated biomarkers, and health disparities in individuals of African ancestry, most notably in sickle cell disease and cancer. Keesha is currently a primary investigator on K01 training grant “Contributions of Biopsychosocial Factors in Sickle Cell Disease Pain” (NHLBI) and a small research project (NHLBI), which aims to gain an understanding of the AVPR1A gene and its effects on stress and pain in patients living with sickle cell disease. Her research in this area has been funded by the NIA and NHLBI.
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Staja Booker, PhD, RN
Staja “Star” Booker, PhD, RN is an Assistant Professor of Nursing at the University of Florida (College of Nursing) whose research focuses on racial disparities in pain, using mixed methods to understand the lived experience of older adults with persistent joint pain. Her research laboratory phenotypes differences in movement-evoked pain by identifying biopsychosocial-behavioral predictors in older Black Americans and White Americans. Star has published over 60 articles and given over 65 scholarly presentations. She has received several awards such as the IASP Pain in Older Persons SIG Junior Investigator Award and 2020 American Society for Pain Management Nursing Excellence in Nursing Award for Pain Management of the Older Adult. Dr. Booker serves on the Board of Directors for the United States Association for the Study of Pain, is a member of the IASP Early Career/Young Leaders Task Force, and sits on editorial boards of the Journal of Pain, Pain Research Forum, and Journal of Gerontological Nursing.