First, we would like to acknowledge and thank all the patients for willingly participating in medical research and making advancement in the care of patients with sickle cell disease possible. VAS is supported by an American Society of Hematology Scholar Award, and National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, 1K08DK110448-01. JCBA has been sponsored by Cienciactiva, an initiative of the Peruvian National Council of Science, Technology and Technological Innovation (CONCYTEC); grant contract number 231-2015-FONDECYT. PEG would also like to thank Dr. Alex George for access to clinical data and help with the study preparation and conceptualization.