Federal Project Grant Summary

Versiti Blood Health, Inc. received a $704,758 Project Grant awarded July 1, 2026, through the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) under the Diabetes, Digestive, and Kidney Diseases Extramural Research program (CFDA 93.847). The award supports a five-year research initiative (completion April 30, 2031) to investigate cellular variation in fetal hemoglobin distribution among patients with sickle cell disease. The research will employ single-cell transcriptomics, chromatin accessibility profiling, and genome editing to identify and validate regulatory elements controlling fetal hemoglobin distribution in individuals with naturally occurring β-globin locus deletions, hereditary persistence of fetal hemoglobin, and α-thalassemia, as well as analyze hydroxyurea-treated patients with sustained high fetal hemoglobin levels but divergent clinical outcomes.

The project addresses a critical gap in understanding how genetic and epigenetic regulation of γ-globin expression shapes fetal hemoglobin distribution and modifies disease severity in sickle cell disease—a severe inherited blood disorder affecting over 100,000 individuals in the United States. The research will generate fundamental scientific knowledge regarding red cell-intrinsic regulatory mechanisms that determine fetal hemoglobin distribution, with potential applications for improving therapeutic outcomes in sickle cell disease management. The award is conducted at Versiti's facility in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, leveraging the organization's operational capacity as a blood center, transfusion medicine organization, and research institution.