Arterial thrombosis is a lethal disease characterized by large “platelet clumps” on the artery lumen, known as thrombi. The annual cost of treating arterial thrombosis in the United States is more than $100 billion. Despite primary and secondary preventative measures, arterial thrombotic and embolic events such as stroke and myocardial infarction still remain the leading cause of mortality and morbidity, claiming around 500,000 American lives every year. This situation is likely to worsen in the upcoming decade with the rapidly growing incidence of diabetes, obesity, and metabolic syndrome, which all enhance the resistance of arterial thrombosis to conventional antiplatelet therapies.

Current drugs are often ineffective in inhibiting the progression of arterial thrombosis, and also have the side effect of causing excessive bleeding. This work aims to explore the potential of inhibiting biomechanical platelet aggregation in treating arterial thrombosis, and lay the foundation for the development of a new anti-thrombotic approach.

Researchers at the University of Texas Medical Branch want to learn more about how platelets in the blood behave so that they can find better ways to treat blood clots in the arteries that can lead to stroke and heart attack.

Participants will attend one clinical visit lasting about 20 minutes where they will answer a few health questions pertaining to the study and donate a small amount of blood through a venous blood draw or finger prick.