The National Institutes of Health has awarded a four-year, $3 million grant to a research team at Emory and Georgia Tech that will use new technologies to improve the effectiveness of blood transfusions in patients with sickle cell disease.
The research will take place in the labs of Wilbur Lam, M.D., Ph.D., and Melissa Kemp, Ph.D., both associate professors in the Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University and researchers in the Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience, and at the University of Minnesota lab of David Wood, Ph.D. Lam is also part of the Aflac Cancer and Blood Disorders Center of Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta.
The NIH-funded project is entitled “Redefining clinical viscosity in sickle cell disease by leveraging microfluidic technologies.”
Sickle cell disease is a life-threatening genetic blood disorder in which red blood cells become physically altered and misshapen. Viscosity, or resistance to flow, is a complex biophysical property of blood that changes in various parts of the circulation in the body and is rendered even more complex by sickle cell disease.
“While blood viscosity in sickle cell disease is poorly understood,” explains Lam, “it remains important clinically, because physicians are instructed to use blood transfusions judiciously to avoid ‘hyperviscosity,’ but are also hampered by clinical transfusion guidelines that are not scientifically sound or evidence-based.”
The researchers propose to use new microfluidic and computational modeling techniques to model the different blood vessels and to more precisely define what “viscosity” means in different parts of the circulation within a sickle cell disease patient. They also will study how viscosity changes in the context of blood transfusions, which will lead to more patient-specific transfusion guidelines.
“We are grateful for this funding, and confident that the grant will allow us to make a significant contribution to redefining and improving guidelines for blood transfusions in sickle cell disease,” says Kemp. “This could make a significant difference in the quality of life and long-term health of these patients.”
Media Contact:
Walter Rich
Communications Manager
Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering
Georgia Institute of Technology
Media Contact
Walter Rich
Keywords
Latest BME News
Georgia Tech authors reflect a rapidly evolving field in new edition highlighting real-world applications
Hands-on approach to teaching microfluidics is inspiring future innovators
In this edition of Ferst Exchange, Coulter BME's Aniruddh Sarkar explains the science.
Georgia Tech researchers uncover the role of lateral inhibition in enhancing contrast and filtering distractions, with implications for neuroscience and AI.
Graduate BME students are tackling heart disease and training to become leaders and innovators in cardiovascular research
BME undergrad is first student from Coulter department and one of three from Georgia Tech to earn aerospace honor
Coulter BME researchers develop 3D-printed, bioresorbable heart valve, potentially eliminating the need for repeated surgeries.