A University of Iowa associate professor has received a grant for a sepsis study that aims to lay the groundwork for new clinical tests.

Ethan Anderson, associate professor of pharmaceutical sciences and experimental therapeutics in the College of Pharmacy, was awarded a four-year grant to study sepsis, the body’s extreme response to infection that can lead to organ failure and death. The study will examine the metabolic effects of a protein released by the liver during sepsis and perform tests on the protein in blood samples from patients with sepsis.

The grant, from the National Institutes of Health through its National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, exceeds $1.7 million.

Co-investigators are David Roman, College of Pharmacy associate dean for research and graduate education, and Ryan Boudreau, associate professor of internal medicine–cardiovascular medicine at the Carver College of Medicine.

“Ultimately, this project will lay groundwork for new clinical tests and drugs for organ failure in sepsis and other severe inflammatory responses that occur with infections,” Anderson says. “As we saw during COVID-19, where many patients died as a result of respiratory failure caused by severe inflammatory stress, new therapies and tests are urgently needed.”