Dr. Nathan White Awarded DoD Grant for New Project

Dr. Nathan White has been awarded funds from the US Department of Defense (DoD) for his project titled Fibrin degradation products as novel drivers of coagulopathy and blood failure after trauma.

Project dates: 3/1/2021 – 2/28/2023

Abstract: This Discovery Award project seeks to discover the role of fibrin degradation products (FDP’s) in the mechanism of the coagulopathy of trauma. FDP’s are increased significantly after trauma, but have been largely dismissed as being only correlates of injury having no direct role in bleeding, and therefore unimportant. However, abundant evidence exists from basic investigations that FDP’s are capable of contributing directly to pathological coagulation mechanisms that promote bleeding. Our untested theory is that FDP’s directly exacerbate the coagulopathy of trauma by promoting anticoagulation and hyperfibrinolysis. Discovery of the role of FDP’s in the mechanism of the coagulopathy of trauma will enable development of novel diagnostics, such as point-of-care FDP detection assays and new therapeutics including FDP-directed monoclonal blocking antibodies and antifibrinolytic agents. This project is innovative because it will discover an unknown aspect of the coagulopathy of trauma, which will lay the groundwork for future development of novel FDP-specific diagnostics and therapeutics.