The Power of Care and Discovery: Supporting Tulane’s Sickle Cell Mission

Life-changing medical care requires investment in the people and research that make it possible. At Tulane, clinical care and research support treatment for patients with complex conditions. Daniel Cressy’s story reflects what is possible when medicine pushes boundaries in sickle cell disease treatment.

Cressy, 22, is making history as the first patient in Louisiana to receive a recently approved gene therapy for sickle cell disease. Thanks to this groundbreaking procedure and over two decades of comprehensive care at the Tulane Sickle Cell Center, Cressy is on the cusp of achieving his dream to become a commercial pilot.

“We are with our patients side by side at every step,” said Dr. Maria Espanol, the center’s medical director. “We want them to know they don’t have to face this disease alone.

“We offer a multidisciplinary team with nurses, social workers and physicians, and every time patients come in, we see them as a team,” Espanol said. Because Tulane is an academic medical center, patients also have access to research opportunities.

Through Tulane’s Grateful Giving program, patients, physicians and members of the community can support this life-changing work by honoring a specific caregiver, supporting medical research or making a gift in honor of a loved one.