Adetola Kassim
His childhood and medical school years in Nigeria exposed him to the devastating effects of sickle cell disease (SCD) in affected individuals and families. One in four Africans carry the sickle cell trait, and more than half of African children with the disease will die before they reach adulthood. SCD affects about 100,000 people in the United States, mostly African Americans, but our healthcare systems struggle to deliver effective care. Dr. Kassim established the Vanderbilt Adult Sickle Cell Disease Clinic shortly on his arrival at Vanderbilt in August 2001. The clinic has not only endured due to his resilience and devotion to caring for this underserved population of patients, despite limited support and resources. He regularly tackles health care disparities in the SCD clinic at Vanderbilt, where the majority of our patients remain socioeconomically disadvantaged, face racial and social stigmatization, increased rates of depression and limited access to critical health resources. While this public service role is not associated with routine gratitude or recognition, it is a mission in which he strongly believes and continues to fulfil unselfishly. This clinic has also served as a continuity clinic for residents, fellows and under-graduates with interest in SCD and other hemoglobinopathies. From interrogating the brain in SCD, exploring innovative novel pain regimens that reduce the need for daily, high-dose opioids, using the chronic care model of care, to the use of haploidentical stem cell transplants as a curative modality, he is spearheading ways to improve cure rates and help more patients lead happy, productive lives.
Dr. Kassim has treated patient care not merely as a profession, but as a humanitarian and global health mission. He frequently travels to West Africa (Ghana and Nigeria) to advance the care of children and adults with SCD in low resource setting. One of those efforts resulted in reducing the maternal mortality among women with SCD >80% at Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra, Ghana, using a multidisciplinary approach (Am J Hematol. 2019 Feb;94(2):223-230). He is also a member of the American Society of Hematology Committee on Promoting Diversity - Committee responsible for research scholarship and mentored experiences for underrepresented minorities in medical school and post-doctoral fellowships as a Career Mentor; member of the Bone Marrow Transplant Clinical Trials Network, Special Populations Committee member to highlight needs of under-represented minorities and a member of the Steering Committee for the ASBMT Survivorship Group, SIG with focus on minority populations. A member of Nigerian Sickle Cell Disease Network (a charitable, non-profit organization for the purpose of advancing the understanding and management of sickle cell disease and improving the welfare of persons affected by this condition under the laws of Nigeria); and member of the working group, of the Africa Sickle Cell Research Network (AfroSickleNet).
Financial relationships
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Date added:04/17/2023