February 2005

Latest findings on genetic blood disorder 'Cooley's Anemia'

International experts to gather in Orlando March 17-19, 2005

Cooley's anemia, or thalassemia major, is an inherited life-threatening blood disorder that requires regular transfusions and extensive ongoing medical care for problems such as osteoporosis, heart failure, growth hormone deficiency and pulmonary hypertension. The extensive, lifelong blood transfusions required by Cooley's anemia patients may also lead to iron overload that can cause early death from organ failure.

The latest advances in the understanding and treatment of this disease will be the focus of an international conference March 17-19 in Orlando, Florida, sponsored by the New York Academy of Sciences, in collaboration with the Cooley's Anemia Foundation. The conference--at the Hilton in the Walt Disney Resort--will bring together leading specialists from around the world to consider the kinds of dramatic improvements in diagnosis, prevention of complications and treatment since the last major symposium on the disease, in 1997 (also sponsored by the Academy and Foundation).

Organizers of the conference are Elliott Vichinsky, Children's Hospital & Research Center at Oakland, California, and Jayne Restivo, Cooley's Anemia Foundation, Flushing, NY. The keynote address, "The Challenge of Thalassemia for the Developing Countries," will be given Thursday, March 17 by Sir David Weatherall, Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine, Oxford, UK.

Major sessions of the conference will address such issues as gene regulation and therapy, new advances in stem cell transplantation, new therapies for thalassemia, barriers to optimal survival and emerging issues. More than 50 individual workshops, talks and poster sessions will be featured.

For registration or further information on the conference, visit www.nyas.org

Founded in 1817, the New York Academy of Sciences is a nonprofit membership organization dedicated to building communities and advancing science.