Thomas H. Howard, MD

Dr. Howard is Professor of Pediatrics and Director of Hematology Section at University of Alabama. Dr. Howard hails from North Carolina, graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in Chemistry, and received his MD degree from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (JHUSOM). Dr. Howard’s primary clinical interest is general hematology with a focus on sickle cell disease (SCD), hemophilia and red and white blood cell defects. Dr. Howard’s research career interests and experience include an NIH funded basic research program focused on assembly and regulation of the molecular motor in neutrophils; his clinical research focuses on neurological abnormalities, health care delivery, and novel therapies for SCD. 

Currently he is institutional PI for NHLBI studies (The Baby Hydroxyurea Trial, Co-PI on the JHU/UAB Basic and Translational Research Program, The JHU Priapism Project), NINDS grants (The Silent Infarct Transfusion Trial, Hydroxyurea for Silent Infarcts in Sickle Hemoglobinopathies), and HRSA projects (Sickle Cell Treatment Demonstration Project) and industry sponsored trials of a novel pneumococcal vaccine. He, in collaboration with Lee Hilliard MD, founded and developed the Children and Youth Sickle Network (The CYSNTM), a network of regional, comprehensive SCD clinics focused on prevention of SCD morbidity and mortality.