Director, UPMC Adult Sickle Cell Disease Program

Research Interest

Dr. Novelli’s research has focused on the mechanisms underlying vascular dysfunction in SCD via three main projects: 1) Dr. Novelli has explored the role of the protein thrombospondin-1 in SCD. He has found that elevated plasma levels of TSP1 in several large cohorts of patients with SCD are associated with vaso-occlusive complications and identify a subset of patients who display hemostatic activation and have a more severe phenotype. In translational studies presented as podium talk at the American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting he also found TSP1 to cause pulmonary hypertension in transgenic mice by binding to its receptor CD47. 2) Another line of research has focused on the characterization of arterial stiffness as a mechanism of vascular dysfunction in SCD. Dr. Novelli has discovered a new link between hemolysis and arterial stiffness by showing that hemolysis is independently associated with arterial stiffness measured by pulse pressure in a large cohort of SCD patients. This discovery is of high clinical relevance as it suggests that elevated hemolysis rates encountered in a subset of SCD patients may lead to an increased risk of vascular complications; 3) Most recently, Dr. Novelli has turned his attention onto the cerebral vasculature in SCD in an effort to elucidate SCD-related cognitive impairment. He has discovered a neuroimaging marker of small vessel disease associated with cognitive function in SCD.

Clinical Interest

Dr. Novelli's main areas of interest are sickle cell disease and disorders of hemostasis. Dr. Novelli holds a sickle cell disease and hemoglobinopathy clinic at the Hillman Cancer Center and a hemophilia and thrombosis clinic at the Hemophilia Center of Western Pennsylvania. In addition, he works as a member of the inpatient hematology consult service for several weeks of the year. Another longstanding interest of Dr. Novelli’s is in developing global health research and training initiatives in Tropical Hematology.

Educational Interest

Because of his commitment to teaching, Dr. Novelli received a secondary appointment as Faculty in the Clinical and Translational Science Institute in 2015 and has been a longstanding Faculty of the Global Health Track of the UPMC Internal Medicine Residency Program