SOUTHFIELD, Mich. – A 24-year-old Southfield college student has become the first patient in Michigan to receive a new gene therapy that could potentially cure sickle cell disease – marking a significant step forward in treatment.
Chantez Sanford Jr., Savannah College of art and design 3-D animation student, has dealt with the disease his entire life. Since age 8, he’s undergone monthly blood transfusions at Children’s Hospital of Michigan.
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Sickle cell disease is an inherited genetic condition where healthy red blood cells become rigid and sickle-shaped, blocking blood flow and causing serious health problems. His mother said it stunted Sanford’s growth and affected his development.
Over the years, Sanford faced frequent hospital visits, high fevers and painful episodes.
“Spending time in the hospital frequently for blood transfusions and getting sick often – it’s just a confusing feeling. But I did have a pretty regular childhood, despite the sickle cell,” Sanford said.
A bone marrow transplant is often a cure; however, his brother was not a match.
“A couple of years ago, we heard whispers the FDA had something they were going to approve,” Tamara Sanford, his mother, said.
That treatment was Lyfgenia, which was approved by the FDA in December 2023. Doctors collect a patient’s blood stem cells and add a gene to help the body make healthy hemoglobin, then put the cells back.
Sanford jumped at the opportunity. After cell collection in summer 2025, he received treatment on Dec. 2, 2025, at Children’s Hospital of Michigan.
Doctors track success through blood tests, improved hemoglobin levels and fewer complications. Sanford explained a noticeable difference in his health.
“I feel more regular,” Sanford said. “I have more energy, my urine is a better color, I have white eyes, better skin, better hair.”
Children’s Hospital of Michigan is in the process of stem cell collection for a second patient with sickle cell disease to undergo treatment.
“This is a very good outcome!” Süreyya Savaşan, medical director of the Transplantation and Cell Therapy Program at the Children’s Hospital of Michigan, said. “We are very excited about Chantez and the opportunity for other sickle cell disease patients to be free of ongoing transfusions and awful side effects from this heinous disease. It feels great to be able to offer them a potential alternative.”