A research grant of £191,250 has been awarded to Dr Alan Stewart from the British Heart Foundation to carry out a new 3-year study entitled “Role of zinc in controlling histidine-rich glycoprotein (HRG) complex formation: Implications for the development of thrombotic complications”. This work will advance current knowledge of the structure and function of HRG, a key molecule involved in controlling coagulation, and its regulation of haemostasis in health and disease. In addition, the project will evaluate a potentially novel zinc-dependent haemopathological mechanism in diabetes patients stemming from elevated plasma FFA levels and modulation of HRG functioning. The study is a collaboration between investigators at the University of St Andrews (Dr Stewart, Dr Samantha Pitt and Prof. James Naismith) and the University of Leeds (Dr Ramzi Ajjan).