$100 Million Renewal for Trauma Advances

Jan 16, 2025 | News

In trauma care, every second counts, and even a slight delay can be fatal. “Trauma remains a leading cause of death in people younger than 45 years old,” says Jason Sperry, an MD, MPH, the Andrew B. Peitzman Professor of Surgery at the School of Medicine. “It is also a leading cause of preventable death—which means that these people do not have to die.”

Supported by an approximately $100 million renewal of funding from the U.S. Department of Defense, Pitt’s schools of the health sciences will advance research to improve trauma outcomes through the Linking Investigations in Trauma and Emergency Services (LITES) network—a consortium of nearly 50 trauma centers across the United States and Canada.

Sperry is a coprincipal investigator, as are Stephen Wisniewski, a PhD and associate vice chancellor for clinical trials data coordination for the health sciences, and Francis Guyette, an MD, MS, MPH professor of emergency medicine. Leadership for the LITES network includes Pitt administrators Laura Vincent, Abby Cotton and Laurie Silfies.

The funding will support the network’s 10th study, the Plasma Resuscitation Early for Evaluating Volume and Endotheliopathy of Thermal Injury (PREEVEnT) trial funding. Set to launch at UPMC Mercy—home to a top burn center—the study will explore whether giving plasma to burn patients earlier in their treatment leads to better outcomes. Around a dozen sites across North America will participate.

“Trauma patients are a difficult population in which to do research. Usually, there isn’t time to enroll the patient in a clinical trial, and the transition from first responders and paramedics to doctors at the trauma center is fast and urgent,” Guyette says. “You need a lot of infrastructure to ensure the trial is conducted in a way that both benefits the current patient and future patients. The LITES network brings those resources.” —Staff reports

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