New MPI R01 awarded in the amount of $720,846 from the NIH National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) project title: Mechanisms of venous thrombosis and renal dysfunction in sickle trait.
Abstract: This proposal will use both human blood samples from subjects who are carriers of the sickle cell gene (so-called ‘sickle cell trait’ or ‘SCT’), as well as a mouse model of SCT to study the mechanisms that lead to venous thrombosis and chronic kidney disease. Sub-contracts with the University of Alabama at Birmingham and Johns Hopkins University will augment the recruitment of subjects with SCT, who will also be recruited at UNC. Blood from all subjects will be analyzed in the Blood Research Center using a panel of laboratory assays that mimic the biophysical environment encountered by red blood cells in the kidney or within newly formed blood clots. The mouse model studies will also require a sub-contract with another investigator at UAB, who will work with the UNC team to study the pathophysiology of kidney disease and blood clotting, as well candidate interventions to prevent or treat these complications of SCT.