AABB Recognizes Bleeding Disorders Awareness Month

AABB joins its partner organizations in the blood community in recognizing March as Bleeding Disorders Awareness Month (BDAM). BDAM highlights the challenges faced by those with inherited bleeding disorders, including hemophilia, von Willebrand disease and rare factor deficiencies. AABB is proud to raise awareness about bleeding disorders and to support research that may improve health outcomes for patients with these conditions.

In 2019, AABB members supported bleeding disorder research by helping to fund a grant awarded to Marie Hollenhorst, MD, PhD, through their gifts to the National Blood Foundation. Hollenhorst’s NBF-funded research explored how a sugar molecule called sialic acid regulates platelet number and function. Her research continues to illuminate fundamental aspects of platelet biology that could pave the way for future therapies for bleeding and clotting disorders.
 
Since receiving her NBF grant, Hollenhorst has deployed cutting-edge chemical glycobiology strategies to decipher how the repertoire of sugars on the platelet surface change under various conditions. This work is providing a clearer view of the regulation of sialic acid levels at the platelet surface, which will enhance our understanding of platelet disorders that are marked by changes in platelet surface sialic acid, such as immune thrombocytopenia. 

Making a gift to the NBF supports emerging researchers working to develop future medical breakthroughs for patients across pediatrics, oncology, cardiology and transplantation. Many of the more than 200 early-stage investigators whose careers were launched by NBF grants are now leading experts in the field. AABB urges its members to continue to invest in emerging research by making a tax-deductible gift to the NBF today.