Our Mission
The Thrombosis Research Institute is dedicated to advancing research in the field of thrombosis and cardiovascular health outcomes. We are ‘Innovators in Thrombosis’, a world leader in bringing new solutions to patients for the detection, prevention and treatment of blood clots. Our programme of research was first established in the 1960s and since then, our work has changed the lives of those at risk of thrombosis through the use of heparin for its prevention, and the pioneering use of the low molecular weight heparins. The institute was formally established in 1989, and today we remain one of the few academic research institutes solely devoted to working in thrombosis.
At the Thrombosis Research Institute, we are committed to saving millions of lives, preventing long term disability and reducing healthcare costs. The institute’s research activities encompass drug discovery basic science and clinical research, and epidemiology studies. We are primarily concerned with understanding the disease process, developing novel and affordable therapies and identifying those most at risk at an early age.
We are also closely involved with promoting take up of evidence-based methods of prevention and treatment to ensure that knowledge from ground-breaking research quickly informs clinical practice and benefits patients as soon as possible.
To this end, the Thrombosis Research Institute is committed to:
- Educating health professionals;
- Raising awareness among the public and patients;
- Influencing policy makers, especially with regard to ensuring hospitals have appropriate systems in place to identify as early as possible an individual’s risk of thrombosis.
1965
The pioneering programme of research now recognisable as TRI was established. It delivered breakthrough solutions in thrombosis which have saved millions of lives and this innovation continues today, across medical disciplines and around the world.
1989
TRI was established as an independent institute, with the backing of the then Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, specifically to conduct research into thrombosis, a major cause of death and disability throughout the world.
2000 - now
TRI is now acknowledged as a leader in clinical research and real-world evidence, bringing the quality of data and rigour of clinical trials to real-world studies, and shaping the design of new registries.
Professor Vijay Kakkar OBE
22nd Mar 1937 – 5th Nov 2016Vijay Kakkar was Founder of the Thrombosis Research Institute, London and Founder, Scientific Chairman and Managing Trustee of the Thrombosis Research Institute, Bangalore and Emeritus Professor of the University of London.
He was the recipient of a number of distinctions and awards including:
A Hunterian Professorship from the Royal College of Surgeons, the Gunnar Bayer Memorial Lecture, the David Patey Prize of the Surgical Society of Great Britain and Ireland, Visiting Professor of Harvard University, the James Finalyson Memorial Lecture, the Cross Memorial Lecture, the Wright-Schultz award from the International Society of Thrombosis and Haemostasis for original and outstanding contribution in Thrombosis Research, the Freyer Memorial Lecture, Hon Fellowships of the Academy of Medicine in Singapore and the Association of Surgeons of India, a lifetime achievement award from the International Union of Angiology for outstanding leadership in the investigation of thrombotic disorders and an annual award for medicine from the Guild of British Asians for outstanding contribution by Asian doctors to British medicine.
He was Founder President of the British Society of Haemostasis and Thrombosis and Founder President of the South Asian Society of Atherosclerosis and Thrombosis.
On his retirement from the University in 1997, he was awarded the title of Emeritus Professor of the University of London. His publications include over 680 original articles, six books and contributions to 44 text books.
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Achievements
MAJOR CONTRIBUTION TO THROMBOSIS RESEARCH
Our multidisciplinary programme of laboratory and clinical research has contributed to major advances in venous thromboembolism that have changed clinical practice.
Thrombosis research related to the early detection, prevention and treatment of post-operative venous thromboembolism was started in 1965, with a staff group of two. Work conducted by the Institute’s Founder, Professor Vijay Kakkar, describing the natural history of deep vein thrombosis in surgical patients was among the first to identify the magnitude of this now widely recognised problem (1969). By describing the cause and effect of venous thromboembolism, he demonstrated for the first time the extent of the problem and the impact for surgical patients of pulmonary embolism.
Having defined the problems of venous thromboembolism, Professor Vijay Kakkar then pioneered new methods for its detection, prevention and treatment. In the early 1970s, he established that deep vein thrombosis/pulmonary embolism could be prevented in surgical patients by using a fixed low dose of heparin, an anticoagulant.
In 1975, a major mortality outcome study ‘The International Multicentre Trial’ (Kakkar W, et al. 1975 Prevention of fatal postoperative pulmonary embolism by low doses of heparin. Lancet, 306: 45-64) coordinated by the Thrombosis Research Institute, validated Professor Kakkar’s original research into the prevention of peri- and post-operative death from pulmonary embolism. This trial considered the seminal work in the field and found that heparin prophylaxis reduces death from pulmonary embolism, saving seven lives for every 1,000 operated patients.
In 1982, the first clinical evaluation of low molecular weight heparin in the prevention of deep vein thrombosis was published by staff at the Institute. Since then, a continuous programme of basic and clinical research has further evaluated these agents for the prevention of both arterial and venous thromboembolism, helping to establish low molecular weight heparins as the gold standard for antithrombotic therapy over several decades.
These methods are now used throughout the world and have resulted in the near eradication of deaths due to thrombosis in high-risk patients undergoing major surgery, saving approximately 300,000 lives per year worldwide.
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Governance
The Thrombosis Research Institute is a research enterprise, a company limited by guarantee and a charity.
The charity is administered and governed by a Board of Trustees who are also the Charity Trustees. They are responsible for the overall management and control of the Institute including formulating the research policies.
The President of the Thrombosis Research Institute is Professor the Lord Kakkar, who is principally responsible for the implementation of policies agreed by the Board of Trustees.
The Founder and first President of the Thrombosis Research Institute, London was Professor Vijay Kakkar OBE.
President
Rt Hon Professor the Lord Kakkar KG KBE
Lord Ajay Kakkar is President of the Thrombosis Research Institute and Emeritus Professor of Surgery, University College London. He is Chairman of King’s Health Partners, the Office for Strategic Coordination of Health Research, the King’s Fund and UK Biobank.
He completed his medical degree at King’s College London and received his PhD from Imperial College London. He has been a fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons since 1992.
His research interests include the prevention and treatment of venous and arterial thromboembolic disease and cancer-associated thrombosis. His work has made an important contribution to evaluating the potential role of antithrombotic therapy in the management of cancer patients, and he has been involved in the clinical development of direct oral anticoagulants.
Lord Kakkar was created a Life Peer in 2010 and sits on the cross benches of the House of Lords. He was Chairman of the House of Lords Appointments Commission from 2013-2018 and of the Judicial Appointments Commission from 2016-2022. He currently serves as Chairman of The Royal Commission for the 1851 Exhibition and is Chancellor of the University of Lincoln.
He is a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE) for his services to healthcare and public service. He is a member of His Majesty’s Most Honourable Privy Council and was appointed Knight Companion of the Most Noble Order of the Garter in 2024.
Board of Trustees
Patrick Burgess OBE DL (Chairman)
The Rt. Hon. Lord Neuberger of Abbotsbury GBS PC
Sir Ralph Waller KBE
Sir Guy Weston
