Michael Rutledge DeBaun, MD

Michael R. DeBaun is the professor of Pediatrics, Vice Chair for clinical and translational research and the JC Peterson Endowed Chair in the Department of Pediatrics. He is a leading expert in the care of children with sickle cell disease and directs the newly established Vanderbilt-Meharry Center for Excellence in Sickle Cell Disease. DeBaun’s research focuses on understanding cerebrovascular injury in children with sickle cell disease, and improving management of their care. His efforts also aim to better define the impact and biological mechanisms by which asthma increases sickle cell disease morbidity and mortality. He is now leading an international collaboration to develop the first longitudinal cohort of children with sickle cell anemia who have been evaluated with repeated pulmonary function tests and sleep studies.

Representative Publications:

Asthma morbidity and treatment in children with sickle cell disease

Cerebral hemodynamic assessment and neuroimaging across the lifespan in sickle cell disease

Controlled trial of transfusions for silent cerebral infarcts in sickle cell anemia

Elevated tricuspid regurgitant jet velocity, reduced forced expiratory volume in 1 second, and mortality in adults with sickle cell disease

Enuresis associated with sleep disordered breathing in children with sickle cell anemia

Evolution of sickle cell disease from a life-threatening disease of children to a chronic disease of adults: The last 40 years

Factors predicting future ACS episodes in children with sickle cell anemia