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Leeds scientists receive £100,000 grant to fund research into blood clots

Scientists at Leeds University have been awarded more than £100,000 by the British Heart Foundation Credit: ITV Yorkshire

Scientists at Leeds University have been awarded more than £100,000 by the British Heart Foundation to fund research into how to prevent life-threatening blood clots from forming.

Each year in the Yorkshire and Humber region around 10,000 people die after suffering from a heart attack or stroke, often caused by a blood clot forming in the arteries that lead to the heart or brain.

Blood clots are made from a mesh of fibres which traps blood cells and makes the clot hard to remove. The Leeds research team are aiming to find which proteins are best at making a blood clot less stable, and therefore easier to break down. If successful, the findings could be used to treat patients who are at high risk of a heart attack.

Dr Ramzi Ajjan, Associate Professor and Consultant in Diabetes and Endocrinology at the University of Leeds, said:

"Currently, if a person develops a blood clot in the artery leading to the heart they require life-saving intervention that can involve physically removing the clot before the heart becomes irreparably damaged. However, we're hoping that eventually this research will enable us to target the fibrinogen of people at risk and prevent these clots from forming in the first instance."

– Dr Ramzi Ajjan