Thank you for your interest in and support of our APS Program! We continue to pursue personalized, proactive treatments for APS with a long-term goal of a cure. We do this work to make lives better, and we hope we can use these emails to build a community of others who want the same. We’re all in this together!

NEWS & ACHIEVEMENTS

ACR/EULAR Develop New APS Classification Criteria

Dr. Jason Knight and Dr. Doruk Erkan (Weill Cornell Medicine) discuss the new APS classification criteria that incorporate several new features, including thrombosis risk stratification, better microvascular disease descriptions, re-defined pregnancy morbidity definitions, cardiac valve disease, and thrombocytopenia. Read more.

Early Career Endowment Award

Congratulations to Dr. Ray Zuo who received the James A. Shayman, MD Department of Internal Medicine Early Career Endowment Award, one of just three Early Career Endowment Awards presented annually to support research excellence and to attract, recruit, and retain the very brightest of our faculty. Learn about Dr. Zuo's research activities.

Henry Kunkel Early Career Investigator Award

Congratulations to Dr. Jason Knight who received the American College of Rheumatology Henry Kunkel Early Career Investigator Award, given to an early career physician scientist who has made outstanding and promising independent contributions to basic, translational, or clinical research in the rheumatology field. Watch the video featuring Dr. Knight. (beginning at 02:28).

Research Finds Potential Target for Cardiovascular Disease in Diabetes

In this new study, the APS Research Labs team turned their attention to another disease in which neutrophils appear to play a role in cardiovascular complications. This research was led by Dr. Chao Liu and Dr. Jason Knight. Read more.

Taxifolin Supplements Demonstrate Protective Effects Against Lupus and APS

The APS Research Labs, led by Dr. Ramadan Ali, found evidence to support that taxifolin supplements have protective effects on thrombo-inflammatory diseases, such as lupus and antiphospholipid syndrome. Read more.

The Gertrude B. Gregory, MD and Ralph L. Gregory, PhD Antiphospholipid Syndrome Research Laboratory

The APS Research Laboratories were delighted to host Dr. Trudy Gregory and her family to celebrate a donation that will help support our APS research. This amazing gift will be instrumental in expanding our patient blood repository in pursuit of unlocking the personalized therapies that our patients deserve. Thanks so much to Dr. Gregory and her family for their partnership and generosity.

RESEARCH & CLINICAL TRIALS

Exciting Updates: DARE-APS

Since 2019, Dr. Knight and the APS Research Labs have been working with Dr. Doruk Erkan and his team at the Hospital for Special Surgery, APS ACTION, and researchers at both the National Institutes of Health and the Immune Tolerance Network to develop a first-of-its-kind clinical trial for individuals living with APS.  We are thrilled to share that the trial is active, and we are currently recruiting patients to participate!

DARE-APS Study: We all know that new safe and effective treatments for APS are needed. In this research study, we will learn about the safety of the drug Darzalex® (daratumumab) in patients with APS and will also learn whether it reduces levels of the antiphospholipid antibodies that cause APS.

About the Study Drug: Daratumumab is an antibody that targets a protein called CD38, which is found on the surface of the immune cells that produce antiphospholipid antibodies (plasma cells). In APS, daratumumab may work by eliminating these antiphospholipid antibody-producing cells, thereby reducing damage to the body caused by antiphospholipid antibodies.

Daratumumab is currently approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat a blood cancer called multiple myeloma. However, it has not been tested in patients with APS and is therefore considered an experimental treatment in the DARE-APS study. There are a few case reports of daratumumab helping APS patients, but we need to study it more rigorously.

Participating in DARE-APS: Participation in DARE-APS will occur in two phases. During the treatment phase, participants will receive 8 weekly intravenous (IV) doses of daratumumab. The post-treatment follow-up phase will last an additional 10 months, during which 6 monitoring clinical visits will occur.



Eligibility: You may be eligible to participate in DARE-APS if you:

• Are between ages 18 and 70
• Have a diagnosis of APS
• Do not have lupus
• Have had certain problems associated with APS such as blood clots or pregnancy complications

Updates: We are looking for eligible individuals to participate starting in January 2024! We can only enroll a certain number of participants at a time, but we will keep a waitlist if there are many interested individuals.

Learn More: To learn more, visit the DARE-APS website.

Our site (University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, MI) and several others are actively recruiting for this study! If you think that you may be eligible and would like to be considered for participation, you may contact us: MichiganANSWERS@med.umich.edu or 734-647-3949.

APS PROGRAM COMMUNITY Q&A SERIES

What Is the Microbiota and How Does It Affect My APS?

The APS Program Community Q&A Series, written by Dr. Ray Zuo was created to answer questions we receive from the APS Program community. In this month’s edition, Dr. Zuo discusses the microbiota and how it affects APS. Read more.

We are interested in providing additional relevant patient education and would like to hear your thoughts. Share your ideas by sending an email to MichiganANSWERS@med.umich.edu.

SPARK BARK:

WHAT’S SPARKY UP TO A-HOUND TOWN?

by Amelia K. Knight

Oh, hi! Didn’t see you there. Would you mind joining me as I tell the tale of a heroic beagle? As a brief refresher, you may remember that Sparky, our beloved man of courage – or hound of courage, if you will – is a 7-year-old beagle. We adopted him after he was found patrolling the streets by a good Samaritan.

Now, this Spark Bark is a somewhat bittersweet one. When we adopted Sparky a long time ago, we noticed some bumps on his tail. When they seemed to multiply, we brought him to the vet just to make sure it was nothing serious. The vet took a biopsy and said that the bumps were benign tumors and shouldn’t be a major problem for him. Things went smoothly for a while, but his tail condition kept getting worse and worse. When he started to get ulcers that wouldn’t heal, the vet said the best option was to remove most of his tail. This was sad to think about, but we knew it would be in Sparky’s best interest.

As we prepped for the day of the procedure, we researched dogs with short tails, or without tails at all, and found that many dogs seem to do just fine without them. Then, we began to worry about being able to tell what Sparky’s emotions were because he has always used his tail in very expressive ways. Therefore, in the days leading up to the procedure, we paid extra attention to his eyes, ears, and other ways he showed his emotions to us.

Eventually, the day came. When I came home from school and saw my mom’s car pull into the driveway, I knew I was about to see Sparky. He had to be carried into the house because he was so out of it from the anesthesia. His new extremely short tail was in this “tail protector” which was essentially a wrap to keep him from trying to lick the fresh wound. For the first few days, it was very pitiful because he seemed in pain, but we could only give him a certain amount of pain medications. We also realized the tail protector was making him limp around, so we had to switch him over to the dreaded doggy head cone.

Over time, his little tail healed more and more, and as of today, he is doing much better! He is still in recovery with his cone, but other than that he is back to his normal life. He is not the biggest fan of the cone though because of how itchy his head and ears get. We have therefore been trying to give him extra scratches. He also seems to feel a bit shameful that he doesn’t intimidate the neighborhood deer (and presumably reindeer) as much as he does when he is his normally sleek self.

Well, that's all for now. I will make sure to keep everyone posted on Sparky's healing journey. Thanks for tuning in to my Spark Bark!

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