Leducq International Network Against Thrombosis (LINAT)
The Leducq International Network Against Thrombosis (LINAT) is supported through a grant from the Leducq Foundation, Paris, France for the purpose of developing Transatlantic Networks of Excellence in Cardiovascular Research. The primary goals of the LINAT group are:
(1) to enhance and increase collaborative research efforts among core members who have complementary strengths and interests
(2) to promote the exchange of graduate students and post-doctoral fellows as well as faculty so that a network-training program--a virtual graduate school--takes full advantage of the skills and resources at the various centers. LINAT is comprised of the following core members and members of their research groups: Dr E. Bovill at the University of Vermont Thrombosis Research Group, Dr R. Rosendaal at the Leiden University Department of Clinical Epidemiology, Dr B. M. Psaty at the University of Washington Cardiovascular Health Research Unit, Dr M. Aiach at the University of Paris-5, INSERM Unit 428, Dr C. Esmon at the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation Cardiovascular Biology Research Program, and Dr H. R. Lijnen at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven Center for Molecular and Vascular Biology. A full list of participants and their curriculum vitae are available on this web site. The primary theme for this network is the role of thrombosis in cardiovascular disease. The group takes advantage of a unique constellation of strengths:
a) the LINAT network information technologies
b) physical exchange of faculty, fellows and students
c) state-of-the-art core facilities
d) access to well characterized human populations, animal and molecular models. The infrastructure of information technologies and exchange of personnel are critical to the group, acting as the “medium” through which these network activities propagate. The network places emphasis on the exchange of knowledge, skills, reagents and scientific personnel, including the creation of a “virtual graduate school”, with collaborative projects creating significant training and scientific opportunities.
The overarching scientific theme of the LINAT network is the role of thrombosis in arterial and venous vascular disease. A thrombus, generated by localized thrombin production, is a cause of morbidity and mortality in an enormous number of individuals in the U.S. and Europe; and, with increasing frequency, in developing countries world-wide. Thrombin generated thrombi may form locally in a coronary artery causing immediate ischemia or in the deep venous system leading to pulmonary emboli. The pathways that stimulate and control thrombin generation, and the manifold downstream effects of thrombin, also play an important role in the progression of the underlying vascular disease that leads to an occlusive thrombus. Thrombin generation is intimately connected to inflammation which can both cause and result from thrombin generation. This integrated systemic response to injury, whether it is to lipid damage in a vessel wall or to stasis in the popliteal vein, is the focus of the LINAT investigative program. The program of activities is focused on the pathways that stimulate and control thrombin generation, and the consequences of thrombin generation, in both arterial and venous disease. Thrombin is a pivotal enzyme which generates procoagulant, anticoagulant, fibrinolytic, inflammatory and mitogenic responses. These responses serve to shift the hemostatic balance and play a central role in vascular disease.
This web site includes detailed descriptions of the projects and investigators in the LINAT group as well as LINAT publications and proceedings from the network meetings. |
