The Pace Lab

picture of Betty S. Pace, MD

Betty S. Pace, MD

Professor Emeritus
Department of Pediatrics
Member, Tumor Signaling and Angiogenesis Program
Georgia Cancer Center
Medical College of Georgia
Â鶹AV 

 

Jump to: Research SummaryImpact on Georgia patientsResearch FocusPublicationsTeam

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The Betty Pace Lab

Health Sciences Campus

1410 Laney Walker Blvd., CN-4116

(706) 721-3626

(706) 721-6895 (lab)

bpace@augusta.edu

Faculty Profile

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. 

Map of Georgia, USA, that shows counties and routes. A red push pin is pushed into Â鶹AV, Georgia.

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.

Research Focus

  • Globin Gene Regulation
  • Erythropoiesis and development of drug therapy for sickle cell disease
  • Epigenetic modifications of chromatin structure
  • non-malignant hematology (sickle cell disease and thalassemia)
  • Histone hyperacetylation during development

Recent Publications


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 


Pace BS, Zhu X. Blood, 2026 Mar 5;147(10):1014-1015. 

 
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 


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 


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 


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 


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 


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 


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 


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 


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 


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

photo of Mayuko Takezaki, MS

Mayuko Takezaki, MS

  • Lab Manager
  • PRIDE Program Research Coordinator
photo of Natasha Alford, MBA

Natasha Alford, MBA

  • Administrator

706-721-7607

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