The Promise of Neutrophil Extracellular Traps (NETs) as Biomarkers in Inflammatory Disease
Volition is sponsoring a GenomeWeb webinar on Wednesday 20th July, titled ‘The Promise of Neutrophil Extracellular Traps (NETs) as Biomarkers in Inflammatory Disease’.
The webinar will be led by Andrew Aswani and Jake Micallef. Andrew is a consultant in Intensive Care Medicine and Anesthesia at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust. He is also a consultant in Intensive Care Medicine at London Bridge Hospital. Dr. Aswani is the Clinical Lead for Vascular Access at Guy’s and St Thomas’. He is the Co-Founder and Chief Medical Officer of Santersus, a therapeutic apheresis company focused on cleansing patient blood of neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs). He is also a Scientific Advisory Board member of Cannaray.
Dr. Aswani undertook extensive training in multiple specialties in leading clinical institutions in the UK and Australia. He completed his PhD thesis at Queen Mary University of London, where he studied the role of cell-free circulating DNA in shock to help explain and modulate organ injury.
Jake, our Chief Scientific Officer, is one of the founding scientists of Volition. He has expertise in research and development in diagnostics both commercially and for the UK National Health Service and World Health Organization. Jake is the co-inventor and author of the patents surrounding Volition’s Nucleosomics™ technology.
The webinar will focus on Neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs). These are components of the innate immune system that were initially discovered in 2004. NETs are weblike structures comprising chromatin fibers and cytotoxic peptides that are extruded by neutrophils in a process called NETosis.
The mesh of chromatin strands traps and neutralizes pathogens locally to the site of an infection, thus preventing its spread to the whole body. However, uncontrolled, excessive, or inappropriate release of NETs can itself be pathogenic. Excess or inappropriate NETosis is associated with organ injury in sepsis and COVID-19 as well as many inflammatory and hemostatic conditions. High levels of NETs are also reported to be associated with the metastatic spread of cancer.
During the session, Professor Aswani will present data showing the predictive value of the Volition Nu.Q® NETs test, an automated CE-marked test for the measurement of circulating NETs, in COVID-19. Dr. Jake Micallef, Chief Scientific Officer of Volition, will present data on the use of Nu.Q® NETs as a companion diagnostic with therapies directed at the removal of NETs or the inhibition of NETosis.
The hour-long webinar will take place on Wednesday, July 20, 2022 at 01:00 PM Eastern Daylight Time, if you would like to attend click here to register.
