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

Antiphospholipid Syndrome: Across the Age Spectrum

Jacqueline Madison, MD gave a lecture to our friends in the Saint Louis University Division of Rheumatology in January 2023. She spoke about epidemiology, diagnosis, and treatment of APS in both adults and children. Watch Dr. Madison's lecture.

For APS Patients, Lab Results Don’t Always Paint the Full Picture

Led by former undergraduate student, Julia Weiner, our labs find that patients with APS have concerns about their ability to function normally, even when their blood work and clinical visits appear normal. Read more.

Community-Engaged APS Research Collaboration Update

Our new collaboration focusing on community-engaged research in APS is almost approved by the Institutional Review Board (IRB)! In case you missed it in our last newsletter, you can learn more about this project by clicking here.

APS Research Labs Earn Platinum Rating for Sustainability

Sustainability is a team effort, and the APS Research Labs hope to continue to reduce our waste production and energy use in 2023. Read more.

RESEARCH & CLINICAL TRIALS

Daratumumab in Primary Antiphospholipid Syndrome (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.

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 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 plasma 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.

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

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

• Are between ages 18 and 65
• Have a diagnosis of APS
• Do not have lupus
• Have had certain problems associated with APS in the past 5 years such as blood clots or pregnancy complications

Learn More: To learn more about the DARE-APS study, including the study locations (University of Michigan will be one), visit clinicaltrials.gov.

The study will hopefully begin recruiting participants in the first half of 2023.

Characterizing Diagnostic Delay in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus and Antiphospholipid Syndrome

Emily Balczewski is a graduate student in the University of Michigan’s dual MD/PhD training program. In early December, she worked with Dr. Knight and other members of the U-M research community to submit a grant proposal to the Rheumatology Research Foundation (RRF) titled, “Characterizing Diagnostic Delay in SLE and APS”, which was recently selected for funding. Emily will be supported by the RRF for the next two years as she seeks to apply her unique skills to a critically important problem in our field. Read more.

APS 101: February 2023

Pediatric APS

APS 101, written by Jacqueline Madison, MD, takes you through the ins and outs of APS, providing facts and key information to help you better understand the disease. In this month’s edition, Dr. Madison discusses incidence and prevalence, risk factors and diagnosis, treatment, and challenges for children with APS. Read more.

LAB MEMBER SPOTLIGHT

Our lab is comprised of many talented and dedicated researchers all working towards the common goal of making the lives of APS patients better. This month we are highlighting one of our APS Program International Visiting Scholars, Bruna de Moraes Mazetto Fonseca, PhD.

Meet Dr. Bruna de Moraes Mazetto Fonseca

Bruna de Moraes Mazetto Fonseca, PhD is an International Visiting Scholar who, with Dr. Knight’s help, received a research grant to work on a project to better understand the molecular mechanisms of APS in the APS Research Labs. Dr. de Moraes Mazetto has a bachelor’s degree in biology, received her master's degree in 2012, and then went on to get her PhD in thrombosis and hemostasis in 2016 from the University of Campinas in Brazil. Read more.

As you likely recall, Sparky is a 6-year-old beagle. We adopted him from the shelter five years ago when he was found skedaddling along a long Northern Michigan country road by a Good Samaritan. You are just getting a short Spark Bark this month as the good hound and I have been quite busy delivering Valentines to all of Sparky’s doggy neighborhood friends.

“Yowza!” Sparky thought. “What is that? 😟😟”

Sparky was jump-scared by an uncanny-valley image of a dog so very similar to him. He was thinking to himself, “What is going on? Why is there ANOTHER beagle in this house that I guard with oh so much diligence?” He was frankly bamboozled and immediately leapt towards the unknown hound.

Eventually, Sparky realized he was being a little silly, and it was just his reflection. He wagged his tail in approval, expecting to see it in the reflection, but the other dog didn’t move! Now Sparky was just as dumbfounded as before.

Finally, he realized, “Wait! That hound looks so similar to me. But just a bit suaver. Or, even sophisticated, some might say. It isn’t me, IS IT?”

But it ‘twas him indeed. Sparky had received a special appreciation painting from one of his biggest fans, Dr. Naveen who works in my dad’s and Professor Zuo’s labs. Sparky wrote (arooo’d) to all his friends to tell them how famous he was now.

Well, that’s all for now! Thanks for coming to my Spark Bark.

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