; Whereas there is an immediate need for lifesaving therapeutics that can improve the duration and quality of life for individuals with SCD; Whereas, in 2020, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine developed a comprehensive strategic plan and blueprint for action to address SCD, which highlights the need to develop new innovative therapies and to address barriers to the equitable access of approved treatments; Whereas, in 2020, the Department of Health and Human Services, in partnership with the American Society of Hematology and the SickleInAfrica Consortium, and in collaboration with the World Health Organization, hosted a webinar for a joint effort to strengthen efforts to combat SCD during the COVID–19 pandemic and beyond; Whereas the late Kwaku Ohene-Frempong, M.D., Professor Emeritus of Pediatrics at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, an American Society of Hematology member who founded and served as a member of the Global Sickle Cell Disease Network, was a leader in advancing the body of knowledge in SCD research, public health, and medicine and is recognized as immeasurably benefitting thousands of children worldwide; Whereas there are emerging genetic therapy technologies, including gene editing, that can modify a patient’s own hematopoietic stem cells to enable them to generate healthy red blood cells to prevent sickle cell crises; Whereas hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (commonly known as “HSCT”) is currently the only cure for SCD, and while advancements in treatment for complications associated with SCD have been made, more research is needed to find widely available and accessible treatments and cures to help individuals with SCD