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

Dr. Zuo Receives NIAMS K08 Award

Yu (Ray) Zuo, MD, MSCS, recently appointed Edward T. and Ellen K. Dryer Early Career Professor of Rheumatology, received a Career Development (K08) Award from the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS) to investigate the thromboinflammatory consequences of infection-induced autoimmunity. Read more.

Dr. Tambralli Receives ACR Distinguished Fellow Award

Congratulations to Ajay Tambralli, MD, recipient of the 2022 American College of Rheumatology (ACR) Distinguished Fellow Award. Read more.

Pursuing Neutrophil Neutrality in APS and Beyond

Jason Knight, MD, PhD presents a brief background and history of APS and discusses neutrophil extracellular traps, pathogenesis of APS, the lab's past work, and what they're working on now at the University of Minnesota Department of Medicine Research Conference in October. Watch his lecture.

RESEARCH & CLINICAL TRIALS

Community-Engaged APS Research Collaboration

We are excited to announce a new collaboration with two rehabilitation researchers, Susan Murphy, ScD, OTR, FAOTA and Alexandra Harper, PhD, OTR/L, who want to help advance the field of APS research.

Dr. Murphy and Dr. Harper conduct community-engaged research, an approach that includes patients as partners in the research process from start (identifying what to study) to finish (sharing study results). This work will be used to understand and develop solutions to meet APS patients’ needs beyond medications. Learn more and how you can participate.

A First Step Toward Better Incorporating Patient-Reported Outcomes into APS Care

Just this month, we published our first study about patient-reported outcomes in APS: Predictors and Interrelationship of Patient-Reported Outcomes in Antiphospholipid Syndrome: A Cross-Sectional Study. This work was led by Julia Weiner, a former undergraduate student in the lab who is slated to begin medical school in the summer of 2023.

For this study, short surveys focusing on physical and cognitive function were administered to 139 Michigan patients with positive antiphospholipid antibodies. For both topics, patients endorsed more dysfunction, on average, than would be expected for the general population. This importantly highlights that APS is not simply a thrombotic disorder, but also brings with it other burdens that impact quality of life.

In an exploratory analysis, factors such as smoking and certain medications tracked with more self-reported disability. This is ongoing work that we will continue to expand, as we seek a better understanding of the issues that contribute to improvement or worsening over time.

Congratulations to Julia on this important work, and a big thank you to the many patients who generously participate in all of our research.

APS PROGRAM COMMUNITY Q&A SERIES

How Does APS Affect Bones and Joints? What Can I Do to Help Protect Them?

The APS Program Community Q&A Series, written by Ray Zuo, MD, MSCS, was created to answer questions we receive from the APS Program community. In this month’s edition, Dr. Zuo discusses how APS can affect bones and joints and what you can do to help protect them. 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.

RESERCH COLLABORATOR SPOTLIGHT

Our labs have many research collaborators around the world, working together on our shared goal of improving the lives of APS patients. Through these collaborations, we are able to combine our expertise and resources to better develop innovative treatment options for APS. This month we are highlighting Elizabeth Sloan, MD from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.

Meet Dr. Elizabeth Sloan

Elizabeth Sloan, MD is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Pediatrics Division of Rheumatology at the University of Texas (UT) Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, Texas. Dr. Sloan earned her medical degree at UT Southwestern and then completed both her residency in general pediatrics and fellowship in pediatric rheumatology through joint UT Southwestern and Children’s Medical Center Dallas programs. Dr. Sloan joined the UT Southwestern faculty in 2021. Read more.

Sparky is a 6-year-old beagle. Back when he was a puppy, he was lost and skedaddling down a long country road in search of food and friends when a good Samaritan found him and brought him to a shelter. My family adopted him when he was around one year old.

Sparky has been up to his usual tomfoolery, I'm afraid to say. We have all hoped for the groundhog to leave us be, but its spirit has haunted our backyard ever since that fateful day more than a year ago (see Spark Bark circa August 2021). Unfortunately, our wish has not been answered. The Groundhog is back. How do I know this you ask? Well… one day I heard my canine friend arrooo-ing very loudly from the backyard. So loudly that I was in shambles to say the least. I rushed outside to see what was happening, and there was Sparky cornering a monster groundhog. It ‘twas a frightening behemoth with crazy eyes that I will not soon forget. I ran for the garden hose to try to separate them, but my dad had already shut off that hose for the winter. Finally, I found a rake and used that to guide Sparky to safety, but not without some difficulty I must say.

Meanwhile, Sparky was happy to resume his annual Thanksgiving trip to southern Indiana after a two-year hiatus. He really enjoyed seeing a bunch of familiar people. And so much food. However, he was absolutely dumbfounded when multiple dachshunds materialized out of nowhere (my great aunt’s garage). He didn’t like these dogs because they seemed much older and wiser than him. We had to separate them before things fell into disarray.

Finally, I will just advise you that Sparky has been getting into other shenanigans, too. I recently received some intel from the school that is behind our house. Apparently, Sparky’s name has spread through word of mouth. I learned that the first graders are so flabbergasted by him that they asked their teacher, “Why isn’t Sparky’s name Barky because he is so barky??” I guess Sparky is a bit of a niche micro-celebrity over there.

That’s all for now. Thanks for coming to my December Spark Bark!

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