Pratt Team: Dr. Kathleen Pratt (center) with Eddie James, Ph.D. and Ruth Ettinger, Ph.D.

Dr. Pratt’s Research Recognized by Grants from Foundation, Health Care Giant

Puget Sound Blood Center’s Kathleen Pratt, Ph.D., started the new fiscal year with two grants toward her promising work in hemophilia research.

The CSL Behring Foundation awarded Dr. Pratt a grant of $194,443, and Bayer HealthCare, LLC, Pharmaceutical, granted $150,000 to her research.

Dr. Pratt is conducting several studies of factor VIII, the protein that is essential for normal clotting, and of the adverse immune response that many hemophilia A patients have to factor VIII infusions.

The eventual goal of Dr. Pratt’s work is to use protein engineering methods to “de-immunize” factor VIII by developing new versions of the clotting protein that are less likely to provoke immune responses in patients.

Novel Research
“The CSL Behring Foundation for Research and Advancement of Patient Health is pleased to award this grant to Dr. Pratt and Puget Sound Blood Center,” said Garrett Bergman, M.D., executive director of the CSL Behring Foundation.

“Dr. Pratt’s novel, patient-focused research is an outstanding example of the cutting-edge science that the Foundation encourages to improve the lives of people with bleeding disorders.”

Both grants will allow Dr. Pratt and colleagues to extend promising pilot studies to investigate major immunogenic regions of factor VIII. The studies are directed at a significant problem: 15 to 25 percent of patients with hemophilia develop antibodies to these regions, making bleeding much more difficult to treat.

The grants will fund laboratory staff and enable the researchers to purchase materials necessary to carry out the studies.

“We are thrilled to receive such support for our research into a serious clinical problem,” said Dr. Pratt, an assistant member, Research, at the Blood Center and an acting assistant research professor at the University of Washington School of Medicine.

“The grants will allow us to biochemically characterize the initial steps in the immune response to factor VIII. The grants are very timely; our pilot studies with a small group of volunteer blood donors have been quite promising and informative.”

Dr. Pratt’s research complements the Blood Center’s Hemophilia Care Program, which helps patients obtain treatment and acquire skills that foster independence and minimize the complications of hemophilia.

Unique Foundation
Founded in 2001 as an independent, nonprofit corporation, the CSL Behring Foundation for Research and Advancement of Patient Health is the only corporate foundation dedicated exclusively to charitable, scientific and educational purposes designed to advance the standard of care for persons affected by bleeding disorders.

The CSL Behring Foundation (www. cslbehringfoundation.com) is governed by an Advisory Council consisting of healthcare professionals and advocates who are renowned for their dedication to the bleeding disorders community. The Advisory Council has the sole authority to award all grants.

About Bayer HealthCare
From world-renowned drug products to the high-tech platform, from innovative diagnostics technology to veterinary medicines – Bayer HealthCare is a company of international repute, and an independently operating subgroup under the Bayer AG umbrella. It covers the fields of animal health, genetically-produced medicines, over-the-counter products, diagnostic products and prescription drugs. More than 100 years of medical innovation and social responsibility provide an outstanding basis for continued success.

Bayer HealthCare (www.bayerhealth care.com) is a legally independent company comprising four divisions: Animal Health, Consumer Care, Diabetes Care and Pharmaceuticals, with 33,800 people around the globe involved in making a constantly improving range of services and products available to the health care industry.