New Projects One recently funded project is entitled “Race-Based Mechanisms of Factor VIII Immunogenicity in Hemophilia”. T-cell and B-cell responses to FVIII are being investigated using blood samples from a large number of hemophilia A blood donors. The methods described above are being applied to answer the question of why immune responses develop in hemophilia A patients with black African ancestry much more frequently than in Caucasian patients with similar disease-causing mutations. Identifying reasons for this discrepancy will hopefully lead, eventually, to more effective treatments for hemophilia A patients.
We are actively recruiting scientists to help with this project, which will begin in November 2009. Please contact Dr. Pratt if you would like to explore opportunities to work with us.
FIGURE 6:Former lab member Dr. Vadim Kostousov (left), Kate, Ruth, Joe Liberman (now a graduate student at the University of Rochester), and Jasper.
