Sickle Cell Program


October 11, 2024

UAMS Adult Sickle Cell Program Celebrates 10th Anniversary at Annual Symposium

Benjamin Waldrum

Sickle Cell patient panel 2024

The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) Adult Sickle Cell Program celebrated a decade of providing care for patients across Arkansas during its annual symposium. Speakers at the event, which included several patients, reflected on the past while looking with hope toward the future. The Sept. 19 event was held on the 12th floor…


August 30, 2024

Sickle Cell Patient Offers Message of Hope: ‘Don’t Let the Sickness Stop You’

Benjamin Waldrum

Briana Pringle

Briana Pringle, 22, of Little Rock, is pretty busy these days, and that’s a good thing. The Helena-West Helena native studies at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) during the week and works on weekends. She barely has time to visit her family back home. Sickle cell disease is an unwelcome part of…


September 21, 2023

Sickle Cell Disease Symposium Looks Ahead to “New Era”

Benjamin Waldrum

Sunny Singh speaking on sickle cell panel

The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) hosted its annual Sickle Cell Symposium on Sept. 12, bringing together leading researchers, clinicians, patients and community advocates to share the latest advancements in sickle cell disease and treatment. The fall event, held in the 12th floor auditorium of the Jackson T. Stephens Neurosciences & Spine Institute…


August 21, 2023

UAMS Hosts Free Sickle Cell Disease Symposium Sept. 12

Benjamin Waldrum

Stella Bowers and Rebecca Camp

LITTLE ROCK — The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) will host its annual Sickle Cell Symposium on Sept. 12. The symposium brings together leading researchers, clinicians, patients and community advocates to share the latest advancements in sickle cell disease research and treatment, identify current challenges and gaps, and develop strategies to accelerate progress…


July 28, 2023

‘Roll With the Punches’: Sickle Cell Patient Keeps a Positive Outlook on Life

Benjamin Waldrum

Xavius Hymes

Sickle cell disease hasn’t made life easy for Xavius Hymes, 27, of Pine Bluff, but he hasn’t let it keep him from dreaming big. In fact, he uses the disease as fuel to keep going. “If anything, I feel like sickle cell anemia has made me mentally stronger,” Hymes said in a YouTube video. “It’s…


May 26, 2023

For Hot Springs Woman, Sickle Cell Disease “Didn’t Prevent Me from Doing Anything”

Benjamin Waldrum

Cyncere Tidwell

After years of learning how to handle pain crises when they come and developing a routine for care, Cyncere Tidwell says sickle cell disease is just another part of her life. “Other than the pain crises, sickle cell doesn’t bother me,” she said. “I’ve been dealing with it for so long that it’s nothing new…


September 6, 2022

New Mother with Sickle Cell Comes to UAMS to “Get Rejuvenated and Go Back to Life”

Benjamin Waldrum

Jada and TJ Mosby

Sickle cell disease is just another part of everyday life for Jada Mosby, 24. And as a new mother, she doesn’t plan on letting it slow her down anytime soon. “It’s just part of my life,” she said. “It is my life, but it’s nothing to me.” As a baby, Mosby was diagnosed with sickle…


July 8, 2022

Father Fights Sickle Cell’s ‘War on the Inside’ to Spend More Time with Family

Benjamin Waldrum

Tyrrence Sanders

Tyrrence Sanders, 31, wants his children to know they can do anything they put their minds to. And he plans to be there with them, every step of the way. “Spending time with family is the most important thing to me,” he said. It’s a feeling that’s deeply embedded in his own experience. Sanders grew…


June 22, 2022

Annual Sickle Cell Disease Symposium Highlights Multiple Barriers to Care

Benjamin Waldrum

Stella Bowers and Rebecca Camp

Adult sickle cell patients continue to benefit from increased awareness and newly available therapies. However, lack of research funding and access to care, as well as perceived bias from health care professionals, are still impediments to better care. That was the message from the annual UAMS Sickle Cell Symposium, held virtually June 10. The symposium…


February 17, 2021

Symposium Spotlights Social Burdens of Sickle Cell Disease Treatment

Ben Boulden

Collin Montgomery, APRN, lower right, was one of three featured speakers during the recent, virtual Sickle Cell Symposium at UAMS.

Racial bias, the opioid crisis and the stigma of suspected drug use often make getting access to treatment a frustrating struggle for adult sickle cell patients. In a short video that opened the UAMS Sickle Cell Symposium on Feb. 2, sickle cell disease patients spoke about the attitudes of physicians and nurses that often seem…



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