Models of Research
The Thrombosis Research Institute (TRI) has been at the centre of the global understanding of thrombosis for several decades, producing the highest calibre research into the condition.
TRI is a multi-disciplinary, independent organisation, uniquely positioned to enable scientists from many different disciplines to work together as a coherent team thereby increasing the opportunity for cross fertilisation of ideas and the development of new research strategies.
The Institute has been involved in laboratory studies, randomised clinical trials and large international observational registries. We are now moving into the area of large national and regional databases, as well as studies using administrative claims, laboratory results, electronic health record (HER) data, and large-scale biomedical databases like UK Biobank.
The institute’s two main divisions are Laboratory Research and Clinical Research. Click below to see our recent study publications in these two areas:
Laboratory Research
The Institute’s research programmes aim to understand the disease process and develop novel and affordable therapies in order to intervene to prevent long term disablement and early death.
To this end, all our research projects have the potential to save many thousands of patient lives and are concerned with the fundamental mechanisms involved in blood coagulation, inflammation and atherogenesis, as well as how these processes are regulated.
Our multi-disciplinary approach allows us to address these investigations at a molecular level and we are currently accelerating our research projects.
Atherosclerosis Vaccine
As current methods provide only partial protection against atherosclerosis, this important project is focused on developing a vaccine.
Sometimes referred to as ‘hardening of the arteries,’ atherosclerosis causes blood flow to become obstructed and may lead to coronary heart disease (CHD) or stroke. Atherosclerosis is widely recognised as a chronic inflammatory disease that involves innate and adaptive immune responses.
Increasing evidence now suggests that some immune responses protect against its formulation while others accelerate the disease. This important paradigm shift in understanding has opened up the prospect of developing a cost-effective vaccine which protects against atherosclerosis, thereby significantly reducing the global burden of cardiovascular disease.
Research shows that vaccines have the potential of protecting against atherosclerosis by selectively activating protective immunity and by down-regulating disease-promoting immune responses and staff at the Thrombosis Research Institute have already made significant progress in developing a bifunctional antibody as a candidate for developing Atherovac®.
THIS HAS INVOLVED THE FOLLOWING PROCEDURE:
- Selection of the antigen chosen from several proteins and pathogens
- Immune response studies of selected antigens including proteins and peptides
- Engineering bifunctional antigens by introducing linger peptide antigens inoa dendoraspin scaffold
- Delivery vehicles for recombinant DNA vaccine
- Considerable attention is now being given to further develop these vaccines for human use and clinical testing
Biomarkers
Biomarkers to identify risk of cardiovascular disease:
The purpose of this project is to develop a biomarker which can reliably and accurately predict the incidence of cardiovascular disease; (a biomarker is a tool that enables early detection of ‘high risk’ individuals thereby allowing prompt diagnosis and therapy assessment).
It is, currently, extremely difficult for medical staff to accurately evaluate even those patients who are showing early symptoms of the disease. This is because known markers are only released into the blood once irreversible damage has occurred.
Coronary heart disease (CHD), the most common form of cardiovascular disease, is a multifunctional disease with approximately 300 variables whose interaction depends on the risk of disease occurrence. Different biological systems are involved in CHD and their imbalance can either cause or accelerate the disease.
The advent of proteomics has revolutionised clinical research into this disease area. By allowing the simultaneous analysis of a large number of proteins and peptides, proteomic technologies now provide a real hope for early diagnosis and therapeutic response.
Using the most advance techniques, scientists at the Thrombosis Research Institute are working on identifying novel nano-peptides as biomarkers of CHD, as well as a number of lipid-associated inflammatory bio-markers.
PROJECTS CURRENTLY UNDERWAY INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING:
- The development of urine based assay for early diagnosis of CHD
- The role of lipid-associated inflammatory markers in Asian Indian families
- Identifying novel biomarkers for early diagnosis of CHD among Indian populations using surface Enhanced Laser Desorption Ionisation Time of Flight (SELDI – TOF)
- Oxidative stress and atherosclerosis: role of my myeperoxidase
- Evacuation of CMV genotype and estimation of viral load in subjects affected with CHD
Clinical Research
Click below to find out more about some of our current and past clinical projects. While all study enrolment is closed, publications are ongoing for the GARFIELD and RIVER studies.
The largest prospective atrial fibrillation (AF) registry with 57,262 patients recruited from 35 countries worldwide, providing insights on stroke prevention in AF and helping to develop strategies for improving patient outcomes.
Find out more
Prospective registry describing acute and long-term management and outcomes in 10,874 adult patients with venous thromboembolism (VTE), representative of everyday clinical practice in 28 countries.
Find out more
ETHIC was a randomised controlled trial of prophylactic enoxaparin versus standard of care (no enoxaparin) in community-based COVID-19 patients.
Find out more
GARDENIA was a global, multicentre, prospective, non-interventional study of patients with atrial fibrillation or atrial flutter that aimed to evaluate (i) treatment persistence, all-cause mortality, risk of bleeding and incidence of stroke and systemic embolism in oral anticoagulant-treated versus untreated patients (ii) factors associated with treatment decisions in high-risk patients.
Study now closed
Prospective registry describing outcomes in over 5,000 adult patients with newly diagnosed AF who are treated with rivaroxaban.
Study now closed
Prospective registry of VTE in 5,009 adults with newly diagnosed cancer of the breast, ovary, colon and rectum, pancreas, lung, or prostate, with up to 11 years of follow-up.
Study now closed
Prospective study of biomarkers for thromboembolism in 100 patients with advanced breast cancer treated with chemotherapy.
Study now closed
International survey of cancer-associated thrombosis, with responses from over 700 oncologists, haematologists, surgeons, thrombosis specialists, members of the palliative care team and specialist nurses from 54 countries.
Study now closed
Randomised, phase III-b, Multi-centre, open-label, parallel study of Enoxaparin (low molecular weight heparin) given concomitantly with chemotherapy versus chemotherapy alone in patients with inoperable gastric and gastro-oesophageal cancer.
Study now closed