Puget Sound Blood Center’s Kathleen Pratt, Ph.D.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CSL Behring Foundation Awards Grant to Puget Sound Blood Center’s Dr. Kathleen Pratt

Blood Center Scientist’s Work Recognized by Foundation Dedicated to Bleeding Disorder Patient Care

Dr. Pratt’s Hemophilia Research Focuses on Protein Engineering

JUNE 01, 2007, SEATTLE — Puget Sound Blood Center’s Kathleen Pratt, Ph.D., recently received a CSL Behring Foundation grant of $194,443 toward her promising work in hemophilia research.
Puget Sound Blood Center Researcher 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 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.”
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.

The CSL Behring Foundation grant 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 grant will fund laboratory staff and enable the researchers to purchase materials necessary to carry out the studies.

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

The CSL Behring Foundation for Research & Advancement of Patient Health
Founded in 2001 as an independent, non-profit 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 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. For more information on the Foundation, visit www.cslbehringfoundation.com.

About the Blood Center
Puget Sound Blood Center is independent, community-based regional resource recognized internationally for its research, medical and blood and tissue services.  Known as the leader in transfusion medicine, Puget Sound Blood Center operates the world's largest transfusion service as well as patient-focused research programs and specialized laboratory services in support of transfusion and transplantation services. Patients with leukemia, cancer, burns, hemophilia and traumatic injuries depend on the breakthrough discoveries made by Blood Center scientists.

The Blood Center’s Hemophilia Care Program helps people with hemophilia obtain early, effective treatment and acquire skills that foster independence and minimize the acute and chronic complications of hemophilia.

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