Mechanisms of Trauma-Induced Coagulopathy

Program Summary/Abstract The fundamental objective of our Trauma Research Center Training Program is to inspire the next generation of surgical trainees to pursue a career that includes basic science and translational investigation. At a time when surgical scientists are becoming rare, this training grant is critical to maintain the participation of clinically active surgeons in basic research. While our Center’s primary focus is Trauma-Induced Coagulopathy and Inflammation, we believe the diversity of opportunities within our Program, and general applicability of the coagulation/inflammation process to other disciplines, ensures relevance to any surgical trainee. Our secondary objective is to recruit capable surgeons to the field of academic trauma surgery in which lack of research has become a national crisis. Trauma remains the leading cause of death in the US for individuals younger than 46 years of age with bleeding the primary cause of these preventable deaths. Hence the need for basic and translational investigation in this area is essential and remains our inspiration. The design of our Program is a two-year full-time commitment to basic investigation conducted primarily in well-established surgical research laboratories within the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, supplemented by patient data generated from prospective clinical studies at our regional Level I Ernest E Moore Shock Trauma Center at Denver Health. Experimental work will focus on the mechanisms disrupting coagulation-inflammatory homeostasis, and includes investigation with proteomics, metabolomics, and genomics. The major funding for this basic research will be the 1RM1GM13968 “Resuscitation Strategies for Achieving Thrombo-inflammation Homeostasis” funded by NIGMS, UM1HL120877 TACTIC funded by NHLBI, and DOD-W81XWH – 12-2-0028 “Acute Coagulopathy of Trauma” funded by the Department of Defense. Clinical studies will be funded dominantly by the DOD W81XWH–12-2-0028 W81XWH-16-D-0024 “Linking Investigation in Trauma and Emergency Service Clinical Research Network” (LITES) as well as a number of institution and industry supported trials. The surgical research fellows will commence participation in the Program after the second or third year of general surgery residency (PGY 2 or 3) for two consecutive years. We encourage pursuit of advanced degrees, e.g. MS, MPH, and PhD, with training in the School of Graduate Medical Education. As in the past, we are requesting funding for four positions annually, sequenced so that first and second year fellows are assigned to our core laboratories.