ARKANSAS: UAMS Researchers Advance Blood Clot Understanding, Get $2.5M to Continue Studies
A $2.5M NIH grant will help University of ARKANSAS for Medical Sciences (UAMS) researchers continue studying blood clots after the team made a breakthrough discovery. The team, led by UAMS physiology and cell biology professor Dr. Brian Storrie, discovered that blood clots in puncture wounds form structures similar to skyscrapers. The finding upends the long-held belief that cells fill a puncture wound layer by layer to stop bleeding, known as the core and shell model. Storrie's team includes researchers from the University of KENTUCKY and the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering.
“The research by Dr. Storrie and his team provides a fascinating image at an incredibly detailed level into how blood clots form and vary in different tissues. This insight should help pave the way for future drugs to prevent life-threatening blood clots while minimizing the risk of bleeding,” said Susan Smyth, M.D., Ph.D., executive vice chancellor of UAMS and dean of the College of Medicine, a cardiologist whose own research and clinical care has centered on prevention and treatment of thrombosis.
“Our results are very different than what has been thought to be true of blood clot formation,” Storrie said.