Scott Alan Peslak, MD, PhD
Assistant Professor of Medicine (Hematology-Oncology)
Department: Medicine
Graduate Group Affiliations
Contact information
University of Pennsylvania, Department of Medicine, Division of Hematology/Oncology
Biomedical Research Building II/III, Room 809
421 Curie Blvd
Philadelphia, PA 19104
Biomedical Research Building II/III, Room 809
421 Curie Blvd
Philadelphia, PA 19104
Publications
Education:
BS (Biochemistry, Philosophy)
University of Scranton , 2006.
PhD (Pathology)
University of Rochester School of Medicine, 2012.
MD (Medicine )
University of Rochester School of Medicine, 2014.
Permanent linkBS (Biochemistry, Philosophy)
University of Scranton , 2006.
PhD (Pathology)
University of Rochester School of Medicine, 2012.
MD (Medicine )
University of Rochester School of Medicine, 2014.
Description of Clinical Expertise
I see patients in the UPenn Comprehensive Sickle Cell Program and Comprehensive Adult Thalassemia Program at the Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine as well as serve as the Gene Therapy Lead for patients with sickle cell disease and thalassemia.Description of Research Expertise
Our lab is focused on improving therapeutic approaches for sickle cell disease (SCD) and beta-thalassemia via the study of key signaling pathways that regulate expression of the fetal form of hemoglobin. Our work spans the entire translational spectrum from basic science to pre-clinical studies, and we utilize a variety of genomic, pharmacologic, and functional approaches in both in vitro and in vivo red blood cell models.Selected Publications
Al Ta’ani, O.; Mayrer, B.M.; Luche, N.M.; Siddique, S.M., Peslak, S.A.; Anderson, T.S.; Vajravelu, R.K.: Impact of Diagnostic Serum Ferritin Thresholds on Prevalence of Iron Deficiency Anemia: A Cross-Sectional Analysis of U.S. Adults. JAMA Internal Medicine In Press, April 2025.Huang, P., Peslak, S.A., Shehu, V., Keller, C.A., Giardine, B., Shi, J., Hardison, R.C., Blobel, G.A., Khandros, E.: Let-7 miRNAs repress HIC2 to regulate BCL11A transcription and hemoglobin switching. Blood 143(19): 1980-1991, May 2024.
Peslak S.A., Abbas T., Khandros E., Traxler E.A., Abdulmalik O., Giardine B.M., Keller C.A., Hardison R.C., Shi J., Blobel G.A. : Protein Phosphatase 6 Complex: Novel Regulator of Fetal Hemoglobin and Potential Therapeutic Target in Sickle Cell Disease. American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting, San Diego, CA Dec 2023.
Cheng A., Traxler E.A., Peslak S.A., Cohen J., Russell J.E., Sayani F. : Patients with Non-Transfusion-Dependent Thalassemia May Evolve to Transfusion-Dependent Thalassemia in Adulthood. American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting, San Diego, CA Dec 2023.
Li C, Shin H, Bhavanasi D, Liu M, Yu X, Peslak SA, Liu X, Alvarez-Dominguez JR, Blobel GA, Gregory BD, Huang J, Klein PS: Expansion of human hematopoietic stem cells by inhibiting translation. bioRxiv Nov 2023.
Peslak, S.A., Akins, A.B., Foxwell, A.M., Iannelli, M., Grande, C., Breen, D., Russell, J.E., Uritsky, T.J., Sayani, F.A.: A novel, effective, and efficient strategy for treating sickle cell vaso-occlusive events in the infusion center setting. Blood Adv 7(3): 410-413, Feb 2023.
Peslak, S.A.*, Demirci, S.*, Chandra, V., Ryu, B., Bhardwaj, S.K., Jiang, J., Rupon, J.W., Throm, R.E., Uchida, N., Leonard, A., Essawi, K., Bonifacino, A.C., Krouse, A.E., Linde, N.S., Donahue, R.E., Ferrera, F., Wielgosz, M., Abdulmalik, O., Hamagami, N., Germino-Watnick, P., Le, A., Chu, R., Hinds, M., Weiss, M.J., Tong, W., Tisdale, J.F., Blobel, G.A. : Forced enhancer-promoter rewiring to alter gene expression in animal models. Mol Ther Nucleic Acids 32: 452-465, Jan 2023.
Wakabayashi, A., Kihiu, M., Sharma, M., Thrasher, J., Saari, M., Quesnel-Vallieres M., Abdulmalik, O., Peslak, S.A., Khandros, E., Keller, C.A., Giardine, B.M., Hardison, R.C., Shi, J., Blobel, G.A. : Identification and characterization of RBM12 as a novel regulator of fetal hemoglobin expression Blood Adv 6(23): 5956-5968, Dec 2022.
Peslak S.A., Khandros E., Huang P., Wakabayashi A., Abbas T., Abdulmalik O., Keller C.A., Hardison R.C., Shi J., Blobel G.A. : Regulation of Fetal Hemoglobin Production in Adult Erythroid Cells by Protein Phosphatase 6C (PPP6C). American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting. Atlanta, GA. Dec 2022 Notes: "Poster Presentation"
Adema, V., Ma, F, Kanagal-Shamanna, R., Thongon, N., Montalban-Bravo, G., Yang, H., Peslak, S.A. Wang, F., Acha, P., Sole, F., Lockyer, P., Cassari, M., Maciejewski, J.P., Visconte, V., Ganan-Gomez, I., Song, Y., Bueso-Ramos, C., Pellegrini, M., Tuyet, M.T., Bejar, R., Carew, J.S., Halene, S., Santini, V., Al-Atrash, G., Clise-Dwyer, K., Garcia-Manero, G., Blobel, G.A., Colla, S. : Targeting the EIF2AK1 signaling pathway rescues red blood cell production in SF3B1-mutant myelodysplastic syndromes with ringed sideroblasts. Blood Cancer Discov 3(6): 554-567, Nov 2022.