DR JULIE MAKANI: Feeling the pain of sickle cell anaemia

There is a personal reason why Dr Julie Makani wanted to study sickle cell disorder.

“I had three cousins, all brothers, with sickle cell anaemia. One of them had a painful crisis while at our home. It was heart-wrenching to watch. He had what was considered a ‘mild form’ of the disease. He studied medicine in Russia but sickle cell anaemia killed him in his prime, just as he had started working,” Dr Makani said.