Disparities in Care for Those With Sickle Cell Disease – How HCPs Can Help

Dr. Jonathan Sorof, M.D., Senior Vice President, Medical and Regulatory Affairs at Global Blood Therapeutics (GBT),  discusses the disparities in care that people with sickle cell disease (SCD) live with and what can be done to help change that.

Sickle cell disease is a group of disorders that affects the molecule in red blood cells called hemoglobin, which delivers oxygen to cells throughout the body. Patients living with this disorder have atypical hemoglobin molecules called hemoglobin S, which can distort red blood cells into a sickle or crescent shape.

Dr. Jonathan Sorof joined GBT in July 2017 as Senior Vice President, Medical and Regulatory affairs. Prior to joining the biotech/pharmaceutical industry, Jonathan spent 9 years in Academic clinical practice at the Texas Medical Center in Houston pursuing NIH-funded clinical research in pediatric cardiovascular disease. Prior to joining GBT, Jonathan spent 15 years at AstraZeneca and Genentech/Roche where he held various US and Global positions, including US Therapeutic Area Head for Cardiovascular and Metabolic Diseases, Global Head of Pediatric Oncology Regulatory Affairs, and most recently as Global Therapeutic Area Head for Immunology, Respiratory, & Ophthalmology based in Basel, Switzerland. Whilst at AstraZeneca and Genentech, Jonathan leveraged his pediatric experience in the design, execution and completion of multiple pediatric clinical trials, resulting in successful negotiations with the FDA for updated pediatric labeling for several marketed products and for innovative clinical development strategies for pediatric rare diseases. He has also led multiple teams preparing for product launches in US and Rest of World in a variety of therapeutic areas. He received his M.D degree from University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, trained in Pediatrics at Children’s National Medical Center in Washington DC, and in Pediatric Nephrology at UCSF.