Dr. Kleber Yotsumoto Fertrin’s research aims to investigate novel potential approaches to treat and cure patients with hemolytic anemias, such as sickle cell disease and thalassemias, to reduce the need for blood transfusion, and to prevent and treat excess body iron. Originally starting his career in Brazil, Dr. Fertrin’s early interest in genetics led him to study the clinical aspects and molecular biology of sickle cell disease and thalassemias, which are very prevalent in his home country, along with other rare anemias leading to the need for red blood cell transfusions and, consequently, to iron overload. His previous research reported on how iron metabolism regulation varies depending on the underlying defect in erythropoiesis (Fertrin et al., Am J Hematol 2014), and on the spectrum of tissue iron overload across different disorders, affecting most frequently the liver, but also more rarely the brain (Borges et al., Am J Neuropsych 2019) and the heart (Tavares et al., Transfus Med Rev 2019). In clinical research, he participated in the design and execution of the first clinical trials to demonstrate the effectiveness of adjuvant amlodipine to improve iron chelation in patients with transfusion-dependent thalassemia (Fernandes et al., Am J Med 2013 and Blood 2016) and participated in the multicenter clinical trial that led to the approval of crizanlizumab as treatment for recurrent vaso-occlusive crises in patients with sickle cell disease