John W. Adamson, MD

John Adamson, MD, is a board-certified hematologist with a special focus on metabolism and bleeding and clotting disorders.

As a core member of the team at UC San Diego Health's Hemophilia and Thrombosis Treatment Center, he provides specialized care for people with hemophilia and inherited clotting disorders. Dr. Adamson has been involved in several clinical studies and has published more than 200 scientific and clinical papers. He has a particular interest in iron metabolism that occurs with acute and chronic inflammation, and in the use of supplemental iron to enhance the marrow's response to erythropoietin therapy. Erythropoietin is a hormone secreted by the kidneys that increases production of red blood cells.

Dr. Adamson helped organize the first clinical trials investigating recombinant human erythropoietin to treat anemia in people with chronic kidney disease (CKD), and the use of erythropoietin for chemotherapy-induced anemia in people with cancer.

In 2011, he participated in an international effort to standardize anemia management in CKD patients. He also served on the National Kidney Foundation's Dialysis Outcomes Quality Initiative group that developed best practices in the use of erythropoietin.

Prior to joining UC San Diego Health, Dr. Adamson was a professor and head of the division of hematology in the department of medicine at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee. His past positions include president of the American Society of Hematology, president of the New York Blood Center, and director of the Blood Research Institute of the Blood Center of Wisconsin.

Dr. Adamson received his medical degree from UC, Los Angeles. He completed residency in internal medicine and fellowship training at University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle, Washington. Dr. Adamson is board certified in internal medicine.

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For more information, see Blood Disorder Care and Hemophilia and Thrombosis Treatment Center.