Grant: Travel Awards - Institute Community Support

Heart attacks and strokes, the number one cause of death and disability in Canada, are often caused by defective blood clotting in the human body. This research project aims to translate discoveries made on the scientific bench to the bedside by figuring out the way blood clots are controlled in the body in order to develop a way to counteract the clotting system. In the past several years, numerous new anti-clotting drugs have entered the market worldwide for the treatment of strokes that target the blood clotting system. Unfortunately, given the biological nature of these new agents, readily accessible and effective antidotes and unavailable. This creates a major barrier to the widespread use of these easy to administer lifesaving drugs because for some patients, these drugs can cause life-threatening bleeding. These at-risk patients would need an antidote to quickly reverse their anticoagulation. Our laboratory has engineered a new molecule for which we have pilot data on a novel way to use this molecule to measure the action of the critical parts of the blood clotting system called tenase and prothrombinase. Because this part of the system is also the target for these new drugs, a clearer understanding of how they work aid in the development of an effective antidote for the new anti-clotting agents. Because our molecule also directly targets the tenase and prothrombinase systems, this new molecule or versions of it also has the potential to become a new anti-clotting therapy for the treatment of heart attacks and stroke.