Maria Del Pilar Aguinaga Email Address

Professor

Meharry Medical College, founded in 1876, is the nation's largest, private, independent historically black academic health center dedicated solely to educating minority and other health professionals. True to its heritage, it is a United Methodist Church affiliated institution. The College is particularly well known for its uniquely nurturing, highly effective educational programs; emerging preeminence in health disparities research; culturally sensitive, evidence-based health services and significant contribution to the diversity of the nation's health professions workforce. Diverse Issues in Higher Education's ranking of institutions annually lists Meharry as a leading national educator of African Americans with M.D. and D.D.S. degrees and Ph.D. degrees in the biomedical sciences.

Maria del Pilar Aguinaga is a full Professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Meharry Medical College and Adjunct Professor in Hematology at Vanderbilt University. She has extensive experience in the diagnosis of hemoglobinopathies and works as Laboratory Director of the State of TN Newborn Screening Hemoglobinopathy Confirmatory Laboratory housed at Meharry Sickle Cell Center. She is board certified by the American Society for Clinical Pathology as a Diplomate in Laboratory Management, Medical Technologist and Technologist in Molecular Biology. Her basic science research interests include transgenic animal models of sickle cell disease and innovative therapeutic approaches for sickle cell disease, including gene therapy. Dr. Aguinaga has served as an ad-hoc grant reviewer for the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, the American Society of Hematology and the Clinical Laboratory Standard Institute consensus committee in Hematology. She is an Ad-Hoc reviewer for the Journal of the National Medical Association, The Journal of Heath Care for the Poor and Undeserved, The American Journal of Hematology, The American Journal of Public Health and the Journal of Sickle Cell Disease and Hemoglobinopathies