Cardiovascular Research
Center Leader: Mortimer Poncz, MD
A developing clot in a blood vessel. A fibrin in green is at the base of the injury and a platelet plug in red is seen growing in the direction of blood flow indicated by the arrow. Yellow represents overlap between the fibrin clot and the platelet plug.
Atherosclerosis, thrombosis and stroke are not traditionally associated with pediatric patients. There is growing concern, however, for pediatric healthcare related to cardiovascular diseases because of better recognition of the pediatric cause of these adult diseases, an increase in sedentary lifestyles and altered eating habits, and a better awareness of disease processes.
In addition, while modern medical care saves the lives of more and more children, it often entails invasive procedures that introduce foreign bodies - often plastic catheters - into patients. This process can lead to a marked increase in observed blood clots, or thrombi. Iatrogenic thrombi - clots that occur as a secondary consequence of providing medical care - are a major concern and complication in pediatric management of many life-threatening pediatric illnesses.
Thrombosis and hemostasis research at Children's Hospital focuses on the basic mechanisms involved in the so-called "liquid clotting phase" and in clot formation. Hospital investigators are working to develop models for translating current knowledge into gene therapy-based strategies to treat patients with bleeding and clotting disorders.
In addition, the Hospital's cardiology research develops new materials for grafts and stents, designs novel strategies for local gene therapy to blood vessels and the heart and is establishing a better understanding of normal cardiovascular development during embryogenesis. The lipid research group focuses on lipoprotein and cholesterol metabolism and atherosclerosis development. The Cellular Molecular Biology of Lipoprotein Metabolism program project provides support to investigators looking at the role of various proteins in lipoprotein metabolism.
The Hospital's research programs in hemostasis and thrombosis, cardiology and vascular biology, and lipid metabolism have become intertwined with the Cardiovascular Research Affinity Group and focus on a common theme: atherosclerosis, vascular biology and thrombosis.
Many members of the affinity group also participate in the Specialized Center of Clinically Oriented Research (SCCOR) in Pediatric Heart Development and Disease, a National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute initiative designed to speed the process of translating cardiac research into innovative patient treatments. The SCCOR provides resources for affinity group members to transform their research on congenital heart abnormalities into practical treatments.
The affinity group benefits from sharing intellectual resources; for examples, the group created an atherosclerosis, vascular biology and thrombosis modeling system to promote the establishment of common multi-user models. The group also shares joint instruments, holds a cardiovascular seminar series and offers seed money for junior faculty to develop their research efforts.