It’s also in our hearts and minds.

The Blood Center is respected worldwide as one of the premier knowledge sources on blood research and transfusion medicine. Discoveries made here have enabled treatments such as bone marrow transplants, kidney dialysis, open-heart surgery and others.

Dr. López leads over 40 scientists across 11 labs at the Blood Center. Puget Sound Blood Center was the first institution to specialize in blood research and is now one of just four in the country.

You may not think of blood research in regards to heart disease or strokes. However, both are a form of thrombosis, a blood clot in the brain or heart. As the world's leading cause of death, a better understanding of this often-fatal disease is vital to the future of so many people. Under the direction of Dr. José López, the research currently being conducted here will help doctors treat patients with different thromboses more effectively, ensuring a brighter tomorrow.

Thrombosis is the #1 killer in the U.S. every year and takes the lives of 2,500 Americans each day. Cardiovascular disease claims more lives than cancer, chronic respiratory diseases, accidents, and diabetes combined. Platelets in the blood play a key role in heart attacks and strokes - which is why these continued research efforts will be so valuable to future patients. With an expanded knowledge of platelet function, drugs can be developed that will be safer, and more effective, than those used currently. For over 30 years, our researchers have been instrumental in the study of platelets and with recent technological advances they aim to make rapid progress in learning the underlying causes of thrombosis and how it might be prevented.

In our studies of platelet function, we are hoping to learn how they are affected by inflammation and to better understand the functions of coagulation, or clotting proteins in the blood. We have studied these clotting proteins extensively, but until now have focused on determining how these proteins are altered in bleeding disorders, particularly hemophilia. Thrombotic diseases have been recognized for a century as a major medical problem, but we now have the ability and resources to study their primary causes and develop more successful treatment methods.