Nathan J. Alves
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Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a blood clot disorder that encompasses two related conditions-pulmonary embolism (blood clots in lungs) and deep vein thrombosis (DVT). According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, VTE affects 900,000 people each year in the United States. One treatment method for VTE is enzyme-based pharmaceutical agents that dissolve the clot. All available clot-dissolving enzymes rely on the activation of the patient's innate clot-digesting system. This nonspecific clot digestion, which results in uncontrolled clearance of both the clot of interest and beneficial clots throughout the body, leads to bleeding complications, including intracranial hemorrhage, in 5-10 percent of patients.
Dr. Nathan Alves, the first tenure-track PhD faculty member primarily appointed in the Department of Emergency Medicine, along with IU colleague Dr. Jeffrey Kline, founded Indiana Lysis Technologies LLC (ILT) to develop and commercialize safer clot-digesting therapeutics to better control clot digestion and reduce the risk of off-target bleeding. The interdisciplinary nature of Dr. Alves' work, which spans the basic sciences, medicine, and engineering, facilitated the development of a targeted nanoparticle enzyme delivery system to clear blood clots.
ILT placed third in the 2017 BioCrossroads New Venture Competition and won "Best Biotech Invention" in the 2018 Notre Dame McCloskey Business Plan Competition.
Dr. Alves' work in developing next generation nanoparticle-based clot dissolving pharmaceuticals is another example of how IUPUI faculty are TRANSLATING RESEARCH INTO PRACTICE.