Vivien A. Sheehan

Dr. Sheehan is an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics in the division of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology at Baylor College of Medicine. After completing a PhD in Biochemistry, Dr. Sheehan went on to medical school at Emory University School of Medicine; there, she decided to devote her career to sickle cell patient care and research. In order to care for people of all ages with sickle cell disease (SCD), Dr. Sheehan completed an Internal Medicine/Pediatrics residency program at the University of Cincinnati; she then completed a self-designed combined Internal Medicine Hematology- Pediatric Hematology/ Oncology fellowship. She is board certified in pediatric hematology/oncology and Internal Medicine Hematology. Dr. Sheehan’s laboratory uses genomics to unravel the mechanisms of globin switching and the pharmacogenomics of hydroxyurea in SCD, in order to develop new fetal hemoglobin inducing agents to treat people with sickle cell disease. Her work has led to a clinical trial of metformin as a fetal hemoglobin inducing agent in patients with hemoglobinopathies.