While Dr. Grabowski is a practicing pediatric hematologist/oncologist at MGHfC with interests in bleeding and clotting disorders, pediatric stroke, retinoblastoma, immune cytopenias, and general hematology/oncology, he also directs an active research program, both as the Director of the Cardiovascular Thrombosis Laboratory and as Director of the Comprehensive Hemophilia Treatment Center.  An important project is the study of the pathophysiology of the childhood epidemic hemolytic uremic syndrome, a devastating renal failure disorder that primarily affects children under age 5 and for which there is at present no specific therapy, only supportive care.  Dr. Grabowski and colleagues have found that blockade of the lectin pathway of complement and blockade of the tissue factor pathway of coagulation together may constitute a promising therapeutic approach.  Further mouse and human tissue culture studies are necessary but these may set the stage for a clinical trial in children in the near future.  Another project is the use of a microfluidics blood flow chamber and real-time epifluorescence digital video microscopy to improve the diagnostic accuracy of type 1 von Willebrand disease (vWD), the most common of all inherited bleeding disorders.  Underdiagnosis and overdiagnosis remain the greatest challenges today in the field of vWD.  The imaging and flow system is currently undergoing modifications to permit mass production.  A parallel study is exploring the role of vWD of the von Willebrand factor propeptide, a protein found in some but not all factor concentrates for the treatment of vWD.  A recently established Retinoblastoma Registry (80 patients cared for by Dr. Grabowski at MGH) provides a platform to study the outcomes of chemotherapy in children treated for high-risk forms of intraocular tumor.   

Dr. Grabowski cared for an additional 320 retinoblastoma patients at Weil-Cornell Medical Center