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

Small Wonder: Nanoparticles Feed Hydroxychloroquine to Activated Neutrophils

Neutrophils and platelets are two types of cells that contribute to blood clotting in APS. Naveen Kumar, PhD and Jason Knight, MD, PhD were asked to provide their thoughts on a recent research study on this topic. Click here to read their brief review published in Nature Reviews Rheumatology.

RESEARCH & CLINICAL TRIALS

ACR Convergence 2022

ACR Convergence is the annual scientific meeting hosted by the American College of Rheumatology (ACR). Many consider it the world's premier rheumatology meeting, and it is always an honor to present our latest work in this forum. This year's meeting will be held November 10–14 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Please see below for a list of our presentations and click here to read brief summaries of each one.

WHAT I'M READING IN APS RESEARCH

Targeting the Interaction Between Neutrophils and Endothelial Cells May Be a Future Therapy for APS

What I’m Reading in APS Research, written by Ajay Tambralli, MD, is designed to provide relevant information about some of the latest research in APS and to help people better understand the research behind the publications. In this edition, Dr. Tambralli discusses an article published by our APS Program in 2017 and a recent publication in 2022 that provided new insights and updates to our work from 2017. Read more.

Look for more from our other recurring series in the next newsletter.

• APS Program Community Q&A Series
• APS 101

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 Rheumatology Fellows, Amala Ambati, MD, MPH.

Meet Dr. Amala Ambati

Amala Ambati, MD, MPH is a second-year Fellow in the Michigan Medicine Rheumatology Fellowship Training Program and is working with Dr. Ray Zuo in our antiphospholipid research labs. Dr. Ambati received her Bachelor of Science and Master of Public Health from the University of Michigan, and then obtained her medical degree from the University of Toledo College of Medicine. Read more.

As you may remember Sparky is a 6-year-old beagle whom my family and I adopted 5 years ago after he was found meandering a long country road by a good Samaritan.

It twas a chillier than usual night in late August. Sparky went into the backyard to use the loo.

It was a quarter till 10:00, and the house was abruptly shaken by a louder than usual Arroo, Arrooo, Arroooo. My Mom and I rushed outside to check on our canine. We were met by a foul smell. Suddenly Sparky came leaping towards us. “Is that stench Sparky?” we said together. You could almost hear Sparky say, “Yes, tis I.”

In the cloudy distance, we spotted a shadowy figure cast long against the moonlight. “A skunk!” I shouted. We darted inside. “Whatever shall we do now!?” We were dumbfounded. We got Sparky into the bath and tried to do everything in our power to get rid of the smell. When Sparky's bath was done, he dashed to a carpet and started flailing around like a walrus as if he were trying to get the smell off his luscious fur.

When dawn broke in the morning, we could still smell the skunk. We tried so many skunk shampoos. Nothing worked. It seemed hopeless, but we knew we couldn’t give up. Bath after bath, day after day, we tried our best. Sparky was as perplexed as the rest of us because his super nose was overloaded with the smell. He was in a predicament, to say the least. At night, when Sparky was now required to be on the leash, you could almost hear him cursing that darned skunk. After weeks of this blasphemy, the scent started to fade, possibly aided by a not-messing-around skunk shampoo (“the good stuff” according to my Dad) procured with the help of a local brick-and-mortar establishment. Things finally felt better. But, if you smell very closely, you may still be haunted by The Skunk.

We know the plague comes in threes. So, first Sparky got skunked. And then we lost our power for many days. What will come next? We shiver to have to think about it.

That's all for now! Thanks for coming to my Halloween-themed Spark Bark!