Sickle cell disease is painful, leads to a high incidence of stroke and carries with it a much shorter life expectancy than the average person living in the developed world. Andrew Wilber, PhD, associate professor in the Department of Medical Microbiology, Immunology and Cell Biology at SIU School of Medicine, and his team are working to change that.

Summer 2017 marked the end of the first year of the new third year curriculum. Dubbed the Year 3 Transformation, (Y3T), it was the first update to the SIU School of Medicine curriculum in more than a dozen years, developed through a $577,000 Macy Foundation grant awarded in 2014.

Summer 2017 marked the end of the first year of the new third year curriculum. Dubbed the Year 3 Transformation, (Y3T), it was the first update to the SIU School of Medicine curriculum in more than a dozen years, developed through a $577,000 Macy Foundation grant awarded in 2014.

Summer 2017 marked the end of the first year of the new third year curriculum. Dubbed the Year 3 Transformation, (Y3T), it was the first update to the SIU School of Medicine curriculum in more than a dozen years, developed through a $577,000 Macy Foundation grant awarded in 2014.

Summer 2017 marked the end of the first year of the new third year curriculum. Dubbed the Year 3 Transformation, (Y3T), it was the first update to the SIU School of Medicine curriculum in more than a dozen years, developed through a $577,000 Macy Foundation grant awarded in 2014.

Summer 2017 marked the end of the first year of the new third year curriculum. Dubbed the Year 3 Transformation, (Y3T), it was the first update to the SIU School of Medicine curriculum in more than a dozen years, developed through a $577,000 Macy Foundation grant awarded in 2014.

Summer 2017 marked the end of the first year of the new third year curriculum. Dubbed the Year 3 Transformation, (Y3T), it was the first update to the SIU School of Medicine curriculum in more than a dozen years, developed through a $577,000 Macy Foundation grant awarded in 2014.

As a pediatrician, Sameer Vohra, MD, JD, ’11, was trained to focus on the children seen in his clinic. Now his task has expanded to healing entire segments of Illinois’ population. It’s a role he has been preparing for most of his life.

As a pediatrician, Sameer Vohra, MD, JD, ’11, was trained to focus on the children seen in his clinic. Now his task has expanded to healing entire segments of Illinois’ population. It’s a role he has been preparing for most of his life.

Between birth and age 3, a child’s brain undergoes an impressive amount of change. The brain doubles in size in its first year, and by age three, it reaches 80 percent of its adult volume. This period of a child’s life is the most important for brain development—and it has inspired a new project from SIU Medicine’s Office of Population Science and Policy.