Jonathan M. Flanagan, PhD

The long term goal of his research is to identify genetic variants that affect the clinical severity of patients with sickle cell anemia (SCA). Sickle cell anemia is a common disorder caused by a single mutation of the beta-globin gene but the individual severity of clinical outcome is highly variable. It is increasingly apparent that some of this variability is due to co-inheritance of genetic variants other than the SCA mutation.

Jonathan Flanagan, PhD has a comprehensive background in the study of genetics and completed his postdoctoral training in the field of hematology. This has allowed him to complete several translational projects involving genetics and hematology. During his postdoctoral fellowships at The Scripps Research Institute and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, he carried out research projects that investigated the molecular mechanisms of iron overload and the genetic modifiers that affected patient response to the drug hydroxyurea.