Theodosia A. Kalfa
Professor of Pediatrics, Hematology
Dr. Theodosia A. Kalfa is Professor of Pediatrics with Tenure at the Cancer and Blood Diseases Institute, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, where she co-directs the Erythrocyte Diagnostic Laboratory. She trained in medicine and completed a PhD in Biochemistry at Aristotle University Medical School in Thessaloniki, Greece, followed by postdoctoral work in endothelial cell biology at the University of Minnesota and fellowship training in Pediatric Hematology-Oncology at Duke University Medical Center.
As a physician-scientist, Dr. Kalfa cares for children with sickle cell disease, thalassemia, and other hereditary hemolytic and dyserythropoietic anemias, and has helped develop genetic diagnostic approaches for these conditions. Her laboratory studies erythropoiesis and red cell biology and has shown active Rac GTPase signaling regulating the erythrocyte membrane skeleton, erythroblast enucleation, as well as oxidative stress in sickle erythrocytes via NADPH oxidase activity, pointing to potential novel therapeutic targets. Her most recent work has redefined erythroblastic islands as dual niches for erythropoiesis and granulopoiesis. She has established the Congenital Dyserythropoietic Anemia Registry of North America (CDAR), which has enrolled over 240 patients and family members to advance understanding of CDA biology, and her group has identified novel disease-causing genes, including PRDX2 and VPS4A.
