Chronic liver disease is a major contributor to morbidity and mortality worldwide, in part because there are no therapies to delay progression or promote resolution of hepatic fibrosis, the end stage pathology of chronic liver disease. Activation of the blood clotting cascade is associated with chronic liver disease progression, but the specific mechanisms linking clotting factors to deposition of scar tissue (i.e., collagen) in the injured liver are poorly understood. Research in the Poole Lab seeks to uncover precisely how the blood clotting cascade is activated in the setting of chronic liver disease and how blood clotting factors interact with collagen-producing cells in the injured liver. Ultimately, our goal is to identify novel therapeutic strategies to target the blood coagulation cascade to delay the progression of liver fibrosis in patients.
