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Welcome to the Cardenas Lab
Jessica Cardenas, PhD
Research Interests
Research in the Cardenas lab is focused on blood coagulation and cross-talk between the coagulation and innate immune systems. Specifically, this lab studies how vascular endothelial cells regulation coagulation and inflammation during acute critical illness, including trauma, hemorrhagic shock, sepsis, and acute pancreatitis. We are strongly interested in understanding key endothelial pathways that are dysregulated during these conditions and how they contribute to thromboembolic complications and multiorgan dysfunction.
Active Research Projects
Endothelial Regulation of Inflammation and Post-injury Organ Failure
These studies seek to examine the response of the vascular endothelium to traumatic injury and how dysregulated microvascular endothelial cells contribute to thromboinflammation, or excessive coagulation and inflammation. This work examines how activated endothelial cells interact with circulating blood cells, such as platelets and leukocytes, and how endothelial cells signal to recruit leukocytes to the end organs, such as the lungs and kidneys, after injury. Our goal is to identify targetable pathways to enable development of therapeutics to restore normal endothelial function and prevent damage to remote organs that result from aberrant inflammation and fibrin deposition. These studies utilize in vitro cell culture models and animal models of acute lung and kidney injury.
Mechanisms of Trauma Induced Hypercoagulability and Thromboembolic Complications
This project is focused on examining the pathogenesis of thrombotic complications, such as deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism, that commonly affect recovering trauma patients. We are examining how loss of normal anticoagulant pathways contribute to excessive thrombus formation and resistance to standard of care thromboprophylaxis strategies. We are also examining the contribution of the innate immune system to thrombosis in this patient population. Our goal is to develop novel, multi-modal therapeutic strategies to prevent thromboembolic complications in the critically ill. Current approaches include human prospective observational studies, randomized controlled trials, and animal models of thrombosis.
Novel Hemostatic Adjuncts for Treating Hemorrhage
There are many logistical limitations to administering blood products to patients in remote environments or in combat settings. These studies are focused on development of novel hemostatic adjuncts that can be administered to treat hemorrhage when blood products are not available. Specifically, our ongoing experiments are testing platelet-derived extracellular vesicles which can be collected from expired apheresis platelets and freeze-dried for long term shelf stability. We are utilizing ex vivo and animal models of uncontrolled hemorrhage to test these new products.