The Pace Lab
Betty S. Pace, MD
Professor Emeritus
Department of Pediatrics
Member, Tumor Signaling and Angiogenesis Program
Georgia Cancer Center
Medical College of Georgia
Augusta University
Jump to: Research SummaryImpact on Georgia patientsResearch FocusPublicationsTeam
Contact Us
The Betty Pace Lab
Health Sciences Campus
GCC - M. Bert Storey Research Building
1410 Laney Walker Blvd., CN-4116
(706) 721-3626
(706) 721-6895 (lab)
Research Summary
Over the last three decades, the research focus in the Pace laboratory has been erythroid development as it relates to globin gene regulation and hemoglobin synthesis. As an NIH-funded physician-scientist, in the mid-1990s Dr. Pace pioneered in vivo drug treatment in the µLCRAγ transgenic mouse and later the human β-YAC mouse model. We were the first to demonstrate the ability to induce γ-globin expression using butyrate and 5-azacytidine in β-YAC mice; this model was later used to discover novel short-chain fatty acid derivatives that induce γ-globin. The 5-azacytidie analog, Decitabine, is currently in clinical testing as a novel fetal hemoglobin inducer. A second drug, Benserazide, which is an L-Dopa inhibitor, was shown to induce fetal hemoglobin, and a phase 1 clinical trial is underway in thalassemia patients. More recent work in the lab has focused on a genetic element, the Fetal Chromatin Domain, that is involved in the regulation of gamma globin gene expression during erythropoiesis. This element is a target for gene therapy development of novel treatments for sickle cell disease and thalassemia.
Impact on Patients in Georgia
Dr. Pace has spent three decades working toward better treatments for sickle cell disease—one of the most common serious genetic disorders in Georgia, where the disease burden is among the highest in the nation due to the state's large African American population.
Her foundational discoveries showing that fetal hemoglobin protects individuals with sickle cell disease from the worst effects of the disease, have directly led to clinical trials of two drugs now being tested in patients, including one already in Phase 1 trials for thalassemia.
For generations of Georgian families living with this painful, life-shortening condition, Dr. Pace's science represents a direct pathway from laboratory to relief.
Recent Publications
An intergenic silencer region regulates HBG expression.
Zhu X, Liu L, Takezaki M, Li Y, Bleoris L, Pace, BS. Blood RCI. 2026;2;2. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brci.2026.100046
IFN-g/JAK/STAT Axis Awakens the Delta Force of Hemoglobin.
Pace BS, Zhu X. Blood, 2026 Mar 5;147(10):1014-1015.
Transsulfuration pathway activation attenuates oxidative stress and ferroptosis in
sickle primary erythroblasts and transgenic mice.
Xi C, Pang J, Xue W, Cui Y, Jiang N, Zhi W, Shi H, Horuzsko A, Pace BS, Zhu X. Commun
Biol. 2025 Jan 6;8(1):15. doi: 10.1038/s42003-024-07424-7.PMID: 39762627
Hematopoietic Cell Transplant compared with Standard Care in Adolescents and Young
Adults with Sickle Cell Disease.
Walters MC, Eapen M, Liu Y, El Rassi F, Waller EK, Levine JE, Strouse JJ, Antin JH,
Parikh SH, Bakshi N, Dampier CD, Jaroscak JJ, Bergmann S, Wong TE, Kota VK, Pace BS, Lekakis LJ,
Lulla PD, Nickel R, Kasow KA, Popat UR, Smith WR, Yu LC, DiFronzo NL, Geller NL, Kamani
N, Klings ES, Hassell K, Mendizabal AM, Sullivan K, Neuberg DS, Krishnamurti L. Blood
Adv. 2024 Oct 29:bloodadvances.2024013926. doi: 10.1182/bloodadvances.2024013926.
Online ahead of print. PMID: 39471440
Endothelial ENaC-α Restrains Oxidative Stress in Lung Capillaries in Murine Pneumococcal
Pneumonia-associated Acute Lung Injury.
Romero MJ, Yue Q, Ahn WM, Hamacher J, Zaidi Y, Haigh S, Sridhar S, Gonzales J, Hudel
M, Huo Y, Verin AD, Pace BS, Stansfield BK, Maishan M, Neptune ER, Enkhbaatar P, Su
Y, Chakraborty T, Gonsalvez G, Hummler E, Davis WB, Bogdanov VY, Fulton DJR, Csanyi
G, Matthay MA, Eaton DC, Lucas R. Am J Respir Cell Mol Biol. 2024 Oct 15. doi: 10.1165/rcmb.2023-0440OC.
Online ahead of print. PMID: 39405473
Assessing Patterns of Telehealth Use Among People with Sickle Cell Disease Enrolled
in Medicaid During the Start of the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Reeves SL, Plegue M, Patel PN, Paulukonis ST, Horiuchi SS, Zhou M, Attell BK, Pace
BS, Snyder AB, Plaxco AP, Mukhopadhyay A, Smeltzer MP, Ellimoottil CS, Hulihan M. Telemed J
E Health. 2024 Jun;30(7):e1971-e1979. doi: 10.1089/tmj.2023.0422. Epub 2024 Apr 11.PMID: 38603584
Simvastatin-Mediated Nrf2 Activation Induces Fetal Hemoglobin and Antioxidant Enzyme
Expression to Ameliorate the Phenotype of Sickle Cell Disease.
Xi C, Palani C, Takezaki M, Shi H, Horuzsko A, Pace BS, Zhu X. Antioxidants (Basel).
2024 Mar 11;13(3):337. doi: 10.3390/antiox13030337.PMID: 38539870
Author Correction: Machine learning-based approaches for identifying human blood cells
harboring CRISPR-mediated fetal chromatin domain ablations.
Li Y, Zaheri S, Nguyen K, Liu L, Hassanipour F, Pace BS, Bleris L. Sci Rep. 2024 Feb
12;14(1):3573. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-54011-1. PMID: 38347089
Characteristics of Emergency Department Visits Made by Individuals With Sickle Cell
Disease in the U.S., 1999-2020.
Attell BK, Barrett PM, Pace BS, McLemore ML, McGee BT, Oshe R, DiGirolamo AM, Cohen
LL, Snyder AB. AJPM Focus. 2023 Oct 30;3(1):100158. doi: 10.1016/j.focus.2023.100158. eCollection 2024
Feb. PMID: 38149076
Bach1 inhibitor HPP-D mediates γ-globin gene activation in sickle erythroid progenitors.
Palani CD, Zhu X, Alagar M, Attucks OC, Pace BS. Blood Cells Mol Dis. 2024 Jan;104:102792. doi:
10.1016/j.bcmd.2023.102792. Epub 2023 Aug 17. PMID: 37633023
Peer mentoring to support career advancement among underrepresented minority faculty
in the programs to increase diversity among individuals engaged in health-related
research (PRIDE).
Coleman TM, Starlard-Davenport A, Onwuemene OA, Stepleman LM, Pace BS. J Clin Transl
Sci. 2023 Apr 24;7(1):e107. doi: 10.1017/cts.2023.535. eCollection 2023. PMID: 37313375
Nrf2 sensitizes ferroptosis through l-2-hydroxyglutarate-mediated chromatin modifications
in sickle cell disease.
Xi C, Pang J, Zhi W, Chang CS, Siddaramappa U, Shi H, Horuzsko A, Pace BS, Zhu X. Blood.
2023 Jul 27;142(4):382-396. doi: 10.1182/blood.2022018159.PMID: 37267508 Free PMC
article.
Research Team
