Advanced understanding of blood coagulation that led to improved treatment in areas including cardiovascular surgery and haemophilia.
Blood clotting is a matter of life and death. Clot too little and you bleed; clot too much and you risk heart attack or stroke. In the 1940s, the mechanisms behind this delicate balance were poorly understood — and Baker Institute researchers set out to change that.
Working with basic equipment, our scientists made a series of fundamental discoveries about how blood coagulates. They developed an anticoagulant drug, EDC, which clinicians found superior to existing treatments for preventing thrombosis and treating heart attack. More significantly, Baker Institute scientists are broadly credited with identifying a key blood clotting component now known as Factor V — a discovery that advanced understanding of the coagulation cascade and changed the landscape of blood disorder research.
Their work didn't stay in the laboratory. The insights gained were applied directly to clinical settings, contributing to the development of open-heart surgery at The Alfred Hospital and to better management of haemophilia. Science that began at the bench shaped outcomes for patients in the operating theatre and beyond.
