PHILADELPHIA – Douglas B. Cines, MD, a professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine and a professor of Medicine in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, has been named the 2024 recipient of the of the Henry M. Stratton Medal for basic science from the American Society of Hematology (ASH). The award will be presented at the 2024 ASH Annual Meeting and Exposition, to be held Dec. 7-10 in San Diego.

ASH is the world's largest professional society for clinicians and scientists around the world who are working to conquer blood diseases. The award, part of ASH’s prestigious honorific awards program, is given annually to recognize outstanding research achievements in basic science relevant to hematology.

Cines is being honored for more than 40 years of research discoveries that have led to significant increases in the understanding and treatment of thrombocytopenic disorders, including immune thrombocytopenia, heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT), and thrombocytopenia in pregnancy.

Thrombocytopenias are disorders characterized by too few platelets in the blood. In some conditions, thrombocytopenia can lead to life-threatening uncontrolled bleeding, while in others thrombocytopenia is paradoxically associated with a propensity to thrombosis. Thrombocytopenia can develop due to problems with the immune system, including as a side effect of the anticoagulant drug heparin, and can complicate the management of pregnancy.

Cines’ main research interest is immunothrombosis, or how the immune system and coagulation interact. He was among those instrumental in identifying the role of endothelial cells — which help regulate clotting and breakdown of blood clots — as targets of immune injury in lupus, HIT, and antiphospholipid syndrome, thereby providing a rationale connection between these disorders and thrombosis. His laboratory has published seminal findings in the New England Journal of Medicine, the Journal of Clinical Investigation and Blood, among other prestigious peer-reviewed journals, on the pathophysiology of thrombosis in HIT and on the links between inflammation and thrombosis.

“Dr. Cines is a true leader in hematology whose research has deepened our knowledge of common blood disorders that affect millions of patients across the world,” said George J. Netto, MD, the Simon Flexner Professor and chair of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine. “We are so pleased to see him receive this well-deserved accolade from the leading professional organization in the field.”

Cines joined Penn in 1978 and has been an NIH-funded researcher studying immunohematology and thrombosis since 1979. For nearly 20 years, he served as director of Penn’s Special Coagulation Laboratory, which provides comprehensive diagnostic testing and consultative services for physicians caring for patients with bleeding and clotting disorders and provides evaluation of abnormal coagulation tests, both at Penn Medicine, in the Philadelphia region, and nationwide. He holds multiple patents based on his research, has been invited to speak around the world, and has published more than 340 articles, including more than 270 original research papers.

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