Charlene Sylvestre is a Nurse Practitioner at Boston University/Boston Medical Center’s Center of Excellence in Sickle Cell Disease, caring for patients in the inpatient setting, as well as in outpatient clinic, and managing acute pain in the Infusion Center since 2015.  Prior to this she worked as a Certified Family Nurse Practitioner in Maine, California and Massachusetts. She is a retired member of the United States Air Force, completing 22 years of service in nursing and deploying twice in support of Operation Enduring freedom during the Afghan War. She obtained her BSN at Salem State College in 1994 and completed her MSN at Holy Names University in Oakland California in 2003. She is the 2021 recipient of the APP Boston University Medical Group Clinical Excellence Award. She enjoys travel, outdoor activities and volunteering for animal-related causes to include participating in the Healing Paws Pet Therapy Program for patients at BMC with her Chihuahua Nellie. She worked with Sickle Cell Nurse Educators nationally to develop curriculum for the 1 week course “Sickle Cell Boot Camp for Nurses” and continues to be an active faculty member in educating bedside nurses in the care of the patient with Sickle Cell Disease