NYBC Laboratory Receives NIH Grant to Study Autoimmune Bleeding Disease

NEW YORK, Oct. 9, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- NYBC's Laboratory of Complement Biology at its Lindsley F. Kimball Research Institute has received a significant federal grant to identify the immune cells that block medications commonly used to treat patients with immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) – an autoimmune bleeding disease in which patients attack and destroy their own platelets, the blood component primarily responsible for controlling bleeding.  Approximately 90,000 adult patients in the United States and Europe have the disease, which afflicts twice as many women as men.

"New medications that boost platelet production are increasingly used to treat ITP patients, but they don't work for everyone," said Dr. Karina Yazdanbakhsh, head of the Complement Biology Laboratory.  "We believe that the lack of response in these individuals is due to their having hyperactive immune states.  Our goal is to identify the immune cells that cause non-responsiveness to these ITP drugs, which would not only help these individual patients, but will also provide a strong foundation for the development of a possible cure for all ITP patients."  

The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health have awarded Dr. Yazdanbakhsh and her colleagues almost $2 million over 3.5 years for their work, which includes a subcontract to investigators at Cornell University.  Please note:  The content of this press release is solely the responsibility of the NYBC authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.

About Lindsley F. Kimball Research Institute:  Since 1964, LFKRI has led the way in blood research, breaking new ground in transfusion medicine and disease treatment and prevention. The institute is committed to furthering research efforts that support the discovery of new blood-related products, techniques, and therapies. LFKRI's work has dramatically impacted global health, improved blood banking, nurtured a generation of scientists, and added significantly to the world's store of biomedical knowledge. From the beginning, LFKRI has supported basic research to understand blood and disease at the molecular level as well as translational research that transforms the findings into major breakthroughs. With state-of-the-art laboratories, LFKRI brings world-class research to life every day. For further information, visit http://nybloodcenter.org/research/

About New York Blood Center: New York Blood Center (NYBC) is one of the nation's largest non-profit, community-based blood centers. For more than 50 years, NYBC has been providing blood, transfusion products and services to hospitals serving millions of people in the Northeast and Midwest. NYBC is also home to the National Cord Blood Program, the world's largest public cord blood bank, which provides stem cells for transplant around the world. NYBC provides medical services and programs (Clinical, Transfusion, and Hemophilia Services) through our medical professionals along with consultative services in transfusion medicine. Please visit us on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/newyorkbloodcenter. Follow us on Twitter: @NY_BloodCenter. Website:  www.nybloodcenter.org.

Contact:
Victoria O'Neill
PRCG | Haggerty 
(212) 683-8100
[email protected]

SOURCE New York Blood Center

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