Dr. Lulu Chirande (Newborn Screening Coordinator)

Dr. Chirande is a consultant Pediatric Hematologist and Oncologist at Muhimbili National Hospital (MNH) and Lecturer at Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences (MUHAS), Dar-es-salaam, Tanzania. She supervises both postgraduate and undergraduate and provides clinical care to SCD and oncology patients at MNH. Her passion is to improve patient care through training and research. She is a member of International Society of Paediatric Oncology (SIOP). She did a fellowship training under the African Development Bank scholarship in Pediatric Hematology and Oncology at Makerere University, Uganda. During her fellowship, she realized the burden of SCD to health care services and individual families and its contribution to child mortality. In addition, she observed the difference made by early diagnosis and use of Hydroxyurea to the few families that could access such services which led her to desire for change and a lasting sense of responsibility towards SCD patients and their families. Her focus is on Newborn Screening (NBS) and early intervention including timely and consistent provision of Hydroxyurea to children with SCD. She is a Country Coordinator for the American Society of Hematology (ASH) Newborn Screening and Early Intervention Program aimed at proving the concept of screening and early intervention in Tanzanian settings and demonstrating reduction in morbidity and mortality. She is working with the team in Tanzania and other partners until proven cost-effective interventions such as newborn screening (NBS) and Hydroxyurea become a standard of care. Currently, she is a Newborn Screening (NBS) Coordinator and NBS implementation Study Lead for Sickle Pan-African Research Consortium (SPARCO) Tanzania.