This Project Grant award from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) under the Cardiovascular Diseases Research program (CFDA 93.837) will provide $685,621 to The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) from September 1, 2024 to June 30, 2028. The funding will support a multi-faceted research study to identify genetic and environmental factors underlying the high incidence of factor VIII inhibitors in hemophilia A patients of Mexican ancestry. Key objectives include extensively characterizing a cohort of 200 severe hemophilia A patients, elucidating the genetic basis of inhibitor risk using trans-omic analyses, detecting environmental influences on inhibitor development, and performing a peptidomic analysis to identify "culprit" factor VIII peptides and HLA alleles associated with inhibitor formation. The ultimate goals are to inform the development of more accurate diagnostics, safer and more effective therapeutics, and management strategies to reduce disparities in health outcomes for this patient population.
Generated 2/25/25, 3:00 AM