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Pediatric Hematology (Blood Diseases, including Sickle Cell Disease)


The mission of the Pediatric Hematology Section is to improve the quality of the lives of patients with blood disorders. 

We are dedicated to three core goals.

  1. To provide outstanding, accessible, cost-effective clinical care.
  2. To promote patient education so that families have the power to make the best medical decisions for their family.
  3. To participate in research that will advance our knowledge about your disease and to develop new therapies to improve the lives of all patients with blood disorders.

What We Treat

Emergency Information


The Pediatric Hematology Section includes physicians, nurse practitioners, nurses, neuropsychologists, school liaisons, social workers, child life specialists, and other health care professionals dedicated to our mission. The Pediatric Hematology Section is one part of the University of Alabama at Birmingham Pediatric Hematology Oncology program at the Alabama Center for Childhood Cancer and Blood Disorders at Children’s of Alabama. The Hematology section cares for patients with non-malignant blood disorders including sickle cell disease, thalassemia, bleeding and clotting disorders, disorders of platelets and white blood cells, and anemia. 

The nationally recognized federally funded Comprehensive Hemophilia Treatment Center provides care for more than 200 patients with bleeding disorders, including hemophilia and von Willebrand disease. Research at UAB in bleeding disorders is helping patients live their lives without the worries of a life threatening bleed. Our sickle cell center provides care for more than 1,000 infants, children and adolescent patients with sickle cell disease throughout the state of Alabama. UAB is a nationally recognized academic center of excellence for sickle cell conducting research to help prevent complications of disease, cure patients of their disease. Our team helped develop the treatment guidelines to improve how sickle cell patients receive care throughout the world. The sickle cell research conducted in our center has led to reductions in life limiting strokes during childhood and painful events that previously limited patient’s lives. We are a member of the Pediatric ITP Consortium of North America which partners with immune thrombocytopenia researchers throughout the continent to advance cures and treatment for ITP. Finally, we receive over 450 consults each year from Pediatricians throughout Alabama and the country to care for patients with other disorders of red blood cells, platelets, and white blood cells.

We welcome you to our practice and look forward to co-managing your child with a blood disorder to improved health.


Meet Our Team

Jeffery Lebensburger, DO, MSPH Director, Hematology Section
Lee M. Hilliard, MD
Christy Bemrich-Stolz MD, MSPH
Hope Wilson, MD
Hilary Haines MD
Brandi Pernell, DNP
Chidbuzo Ilonze, MD
Kristen Osborn, MSN, CPNP-AC/PC
Heather Carlton, MSN, CRNP
Lindsey Evans, MSN, CRNP
Susie Dobbins McGee, MSN, CRNP
Chanley Whitcomb, CRNP
Caroline Wood, CRNP
Leslie Brown, CPNP-PC
Mary Jones, RN
Jeanine Dumas, RN
Val Slater, RN
Lisa Beatty, RN
Sharon Davis
Stacy Smith

Hope and Cope Psychosocial and Education Team
Avi Madan-Swain, PhD
D'Andra Gladden, LICSW
Tuwanna McGee, MA
Julianna Babin, CCLS