Richard H. Aster, MD

Transfusion Medicine

Blood cells are targeted for destruction by antibodies in many clinically important disorders. Some of these conditions have an autoimmune etiology; others are caused by alloantibodies, isoantibodies or drug sensitivity. We engaged in studies to improve the understanding of this family of disorders.

Selected Publications:

• Dhakal B, Kreuziger LB, Rein L, Kleman A, Fraser R, Aster RH, Hari P, Padmanabhan A. Disease burden, complication rates, and health-care costs of heparin-induced thrombocytopenia in the USA: a population-based study. Lancet Haematol. 2018 May;5(5):e220-e231.
• Curtis BR, Hsu YS, Podoltsev N, Lacy J, Curtis S, Samuel MS, Zutavern K, DeSimone RA, Bougie DW, Aster RH. Patients treated with oxaliplatin are at risk for thrombocytopenia caused by multiple drug-dependent antibodies. Blood. 2018 Mar 29;131(13):1486-1489. 
• Jones CG, Pechauer SM, Curtis BR, Bougie DW, Irani MS, Dhakal B, Pierce B, Aster RH, Padmanabhan A. A Platelet Factor 4-Dependent Platelet Activation Assay Facilitates Early Detection of Pathogenic Heparin-Induced Thrombocytopenia Antibodies. Chest. 2017 Oct;152(4):e77-e80. 
• Falk G, Winans CG, Bowens K, Bougie DW, Curtis BR, Aster RH. An unexpected development after surgery-post-transfusion purpura! Am J Hematol. 2016 Aug;91(8):848-51.
• Padmanabhan A, Jones CG, Curtis BR, Bougie DW, Sullivan MJ, Peswani N, McFarland JG, Eastwood D, Wang D, Aster RH. A Novel PF4-Dependent Platelet Activation Assay Identifies Patients Likely to Have Heparin-Induced Thrombocytopenia/Thrombosis. Chest. 2016 Sep;150(3):506-15.
• Mechanism of quinine-dependent monoclonal antibody binding to platelet glycoprotein IIb/IIIa. Bougie DW, Peterson J, Rasmussen M, Aster RH. Blood. 2015 Oct 29;126(18):2146-52. 
• Zhu J, Zhu J, Bougie DW, Aster RH, Springer TA. Structural basis for quinine-dependent antibody binding to platelet integrin αIIbβ3. Blood. 2015 Oct 29;126(18):2138-45. 

Patents

• Method of detecting heparin-induced thrombocytopenia. US Patent 5,972,718 Issued October 26, 1999
• Method and kit for detecting heparin-induced thrombocytopenia. US Patent 5,972,717 Issued October 26, 1999
• Nucleic acids for the detection of the Bak polymorphism in human platelet membrane glycoprotein IIb US Patent 5,652,357 Issued July 19, 1997
• Polymorphism of human platelet membrane glycoprotein IIIa and diagnostic and therapeutic applications thereof 5,091,302 Issued February 25, 1992; US Patent 5,391,714 Patent Issued February 21, 1995; US Patent 5,670,337 Issued September 23, 1997; Japanese Patent 3,221,679 Issued August 17, 2001
• A method of detecting platelet-activating antibodies in patients suspected of having heparin-induced thrombocytopenia. Patent 14/437,066 issued December 26, 2017