A Milwaukee author living with sickle cell disease is transforming his lifelong battle with pain into advocacy, while researchers at Versiti work on groundbreaking gene-editing treatments that could revolutionize care for the condition.

Milwaukee man turns sickle cell pain into purpose through new book

James Griffin, author of "Breaking Silence: Living With Sickle Cell Anemia," has endured excruciating pain from the disease for most of his life. Diagnosed at age 2, Griffin describes the sensation as feeling "like a drill is going through your body or you're being hit with something heavy like a baseball bat."

"The pain is excruciating, and it's not something that's exaggerated," Griffin said.

Sickle cell disease affects over 100,000 Americans, with the majority being Black, according t

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