Our Team
Kathryn Hassell, MD
Director and Professor
Dr. Hassell serves as the director of the University of Colorado Sickle Cell Program, which replaced the Colorado Sickle Cell Treatment and Research Center, which she directed for 22 years. Dr. Hassell currently provides hematology consultation through outreach clinics and supports Dr. Gemlyn George, an adult hematologist at the University of Colorado, who provides direct care to adults living with sickle cell disease in the UCHealth system. Dr. Hassell conducts clinical research, is a site investigator for multi-center clinical trials for adults with sickle cell disease, and has provided national leadership on study steering and executive committees, and data safety monitoring boards. Dr. Hassell has led and served on numerous local, regional and national projects supported by Federal agencies and other organizations working in sickle cell disease. She supervises the State of Colorado Hemoglobinopathies Newborn Screening Follow-Up Program and is active in American Public Health Laboratories (APHL). She is State Lead for Colorado for the Pacific Sickle Cell Regional Collaborative in HRSA’s Sickle Cell Disease Treatment Demonstration Program and on the Core Team for the Colorado Sickle Cell Data Collection Surveillance Project sponsored by the CDC, and director of the CU Medicine UPL Medicaid Project for Sickle Cell.
Christopher McKinney, MD
Associate Professor
Dr. McKinney has been caring for patients with sickle cell disease at Children's Hospital Colorado since 2012. He became the Director of the Pediatric Sickle Cell and Hemoglobinopathy Program in 2022.
Dr. McKinney clinical focus includes providing comprehensive medical care for patients with sickle cell disease and other hemoglobinopathies from birth until transition to adulthood including provision of curative therapy options including allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant and autologous gene therapy.
He is the local Principal Investigator for several clinical trials for patients with sickle cell disease. He is interested in medical education and serves as the Assistant Course Director for the School of Medicine Hematology course for first year medical students.
Gemlyn George, MD
Assistant Professor
Gemlyn George, MD has been an Assistant Professor with the Division of Hematology at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Center since 2021. Dr. George provides treatment to adults with sickle cell disease at the University of Colorado Hospital.
Dr. George started his research career studying the gut microbiome and during Fellowship worked closely with Investigators at the Blood Center of Wisconsin and the Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research (CIBMTR).
Dr. George is currently an Investigator at the Colorado Sickle Cell Treatment and Research Center and is actively involved in multi-center clinical trials and translational research for adults with sickle cell disease.
| Center Personnel | Title | Contact Information |
| Kathryn Hassell, MD | Director and Professor Adult Hematologist | 720-848-0300 Clinic / Patient Needs 720-848-4017 Clinic FAX Number |
| Gemlyn George, MD | Assistant Professor Adult Hematologist | 720-848-0300 Clinic / Patient Needs 720-848-4017 Clinic FAX Number |
| Christopher McKinney, MD | Associate Professor Pediatric Hematologist | 720-777-6740 Clinic / Patient Needs 720-777-7230 Clinic FAX Number |
| Michael Regier, MSW, LCSW | Transition Program Coordinator | 303-724-9066 Office |
| Donna Holstein, RN, BSN | Coordinator and Clinical Educator Newborn Screening Follow-Up Program | 303-724-9075 [email protected] |
Bio coming soon
Bio coming soon