About Us
The Emergency Department Sickle Cell Disease Crisis and Beyond site is part of a grant to re-design the process of emergency management for adults with sickle cell disease. The partners are working together contributing their specialized knowledge to conduct a proactive risk assessment, develop and implement standardized processes and interventions, and conduct formal program evaluation of the quality improvement implementation at each site to indentify and improve the Emergency Department Sickle Cell Assessment of Needs and Strengths processes.
Paula Tanabe, PhD, RN, FAEN, FAAN, is an Associate Professor in the Schools of Nursing and Medicine at Duke University and the Sickle Cell Disease Clinical Nurse Specialist for Duke University Health System. Dr. Tanabe teaches in the PhD and DNP programs in the School of Nursing. Dr Tanabe’s research in emergency medicine and health services includes studies of pain management practices in the ED and work with the Emergency Severity Index triage system. Dr. Tanabe’s current research focuses on improving the care provided to persons with sickle cell disease in an emergency department setting and she has received both federal and private foundation funding for her work in this area. She has funding from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality in this area. She is currently a member of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health Expert Panel developing evidence-based guidelines for primary care and emergency department providers in the care of patients with sickle cell disease.
David M. Cline, MD is Professor of Emergency Medicine and Director of Departmental Research for the Department of Emergency Medicine at Wake Forest School of Medicine. Dr. Cline received his MD at Wayne State University and his residency training in Emergency Medicine at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Dr. Cline has had a longstanding interest in the treatment of chronic painful conditions, including sickle cell disease. Dr. Cline currently serves as a Site-Primary Investigator on an Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality funded study that aims to identify areas of improving care for sickle cell patients. Dr. Cline is co-editor of the seventh edition of Tintinalli’s Emergency Medicine, three editions of Emergency Medicine: Just the Facts, four editions of the Tintinalli’s Emergency Medicine Manual, as well as the textbook Abdominal Emergencies.
Caroline Freiermuth, M.D., is an assistant professor of emergency medicine at Duke University. She developed an interest in pain management and palliative care during her residency at the University of Cincinnati. Upon her arrival at Duke in 2010, Dr. Freiermuth took over the position as liason between the sickle cell group and the emergency department. Dr. Freiermuth currently serves as a co-investigator on an AHRQ funded study that aims to identify areas of improving care for the sickle cell patient. Dr. Freiermuth has worked closely with leadership within the emergency department to provide education about sickle cell disease and has presented data about provider attitudes towards sickle cell patients at multiple conferences around the country. Dr. Freiermuth is a member of the American Pain Society and was present for the first ever meeting of the Pain in Sickle Cell Disease Special Interest Group.
Dr. Jeffrey Glassberg is currently an Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine, Hematology and Medical Oncology at Mount Sinai School of Medicine. He obtained his MD and a Masters’ degree in clinical research at Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine in 2006. Dr. Glassberg completed his emergency medicine residency at NYU/Bellevue in 2010, followed by a research fellowship at Mount Sinai in July of 2012. Currently, Dr. Glassberg is funded by the Emergency Medicine K12 Scholars program at Mount Sinai and also holds an appointment at Rockefeller University as a visiting scientist. Dr. Glassberg has become a leader in promoting evidence based strategies for the acute management of Sickle Cell Disease. He has several research focuses within Sickle Cell including pulmonary complications of Sickle Cell Disease, novel biomarkers for vaso-occlusive crises, and novel agents for the prevention and treatment of vaso-occlusion. In addition to practicing as an attending in the ED, Dr. Glassberg regularly attends Sickle Cell clinic to build rapport with patients who are seen in the ED and to promote continuity of care. He is also active regionally and nationally as a member of the Queens Sickle Cell Advocacy Network, the New York Sickle Cell Advisory Council and the Sickle Cell Disease Association of America.
Carlton Haywood Jr., PhD, MA, is an Assistant Professor in the Division of Hematology at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Associate Faculty at the Welch Center for Prevention, Epidemiology, and Clinical Research, and Core Faculty at the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics. Dr. Haywood received his doctorate in bioethics and health policy from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Dr. Haywood received his undergraduate degree in religious studies (1999), and his master's degree in bioethics (2003), from the University of Virginia. Dr. Haywood conducts health services, psychosocial, and empirical bioethics research related to sickle cell disease, with a particular focus on understanding ways to improve sickle cell patient experiences with care. Dr. Haywood's dissertation examined the association of patient-centered care with trust in the medical profession among adults with sickle cell disease. Dr. Haywood currently is funded by a career development award (K01) from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of the National Institutes for Health (NIH) to continue his studies of trust among sickle cell patients. Dr. Haywood's dissertation and doctoral training were also funded by the NHLBI through a National Research Service Award. Dr. Haywood's professional activities include involvement in a number of sickle cell initiatives at the state and federal level, including the Maryland Statewide Steering Committee on Services for Adults with Sickle Cell Disease, the National Human Genome Research Institute sponsored working group charged with examining the evidence regarding the clinical implications of sickle cell carrier status, and as a member of the oversight steering committee for the Health Resources and Services Administration’s Sickle Cell Disease Treatment Demonstration Program. In addition to being a researcher with a primary interest in sickle cell disease, Dr. Haywood is an adult living with sickle cell anemia.
Funding Acknowledgement
This project was funded under grant number AHRQ, R18 HS019646 from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The opinions expressed [in this document/website] are those of the authors and do not reflect the official position of AHRQ or the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
