THOR - Trauma Hemostasis & Oxygenation Research Network

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THOR - Trauma Hemostasis & Oxygenation Research Network An international network with the mission of reducing the risk of death from traumatic hemorrhagic shock by improving the acute phase of resuscitation.

www.thornetwork.com

The THOR Network Foundation is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization.

Congrats to Audra Taylor and Bethany Weathersby for both winning the THOR impact award for their outstanding contributio...
12/06/2026

Congrats to Audra Taylor and Bethany Weathersby for both winning the THOR impact award for their outstanding contributions that have changed practice and improved outcomes for thousands of people. Two amazing THOR warriors that continue to fight the good fight and make the world a better place.

09/06/2026

The afternoon scientific session at focused on the common biology of hemorrhagic shock and what it may take to move trauma care closer to precision medicine.

Dr. Karim Brohi opened with a discussion of the diagnostic and therapeutic gaps that still exist in hemorrhage care, including why trauma trials may miss important treatment effects when patients are studied as one broad group rather than by the endotypes most likely to benefit.

Dr. Andre Cap followed with a review of the shared biology underlying hemorrhagic shock and how lessons from different forms of shock and critical illness may help guide future therapies.

Dr. Afshin Beheshti closed the session by discussing how omics technologies and AI can help identify biologic targets and support more individualized resuscitation strategies.

The takeaway: the future of trauma care may depend less on finding one “magic bullet” and more on understanding which treatment is right for which patient.

09/06/2026

The second scientific session of the morning at focused on traumatic brain injury, one of the most difficult challenges in trauma care.

Dr. Timothy Billiar discussed how plasma and whole blood may influence outcomes after blunt TBI, and how multi-omics approaches are helping researchers better understand the biology of injury.

Dr. Alex Valadka reviewed penetrating and blunt brain injuries, highlighting both their differences and overlap, as well as how military experience and data continue to inform neurotrauma care.

Dr. Greg Hawryluk closed with current recommendations for penetrating TBI and the challenge of building guidelines when high-quality data remain limited.

Across the session, one point was clear: understanding the biology of TBI is essential to moving beyond a one-size-fits-all approach and toward more individualized care.

Day 2 of opened with lessons from Ukraine and a clear reminder: modern warfare is changing quickly, and trauma care ha...
09/06/2026

Day 2 of opened with lessons from Ukraine and a clear reminder: modern warfare is changing quickly, and trauma care has to keep pace.

Lt. Col. Roman Kuziv, Commander of Medical Forces and Sustainment Group East of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, shared firsthand insight into the impact of drone warfare and discussed the Tactical Aid Assistant, “Alice,” a decision-support platform built around Tactical Combat Casualty Care principles.

Dr. Warren Dorlac followed with a review of the medical consequences of drone warfare, including unique injury patterns, prolonged tourniquet challenges, and multidrug-resistant bacterial contamination in complex combat wounds.

Dr. Travis Polk closed the discussion with a look at autonomous trauma care and the future role of artificial intelligence in casualty management.

The takeaway: the future of trauma care will depend on medicine, technology, decision support, and systems built for the realities of modern conflict.

Questioning dogma is part of what THOR is built to do.Dr. Philip Spinella discussed how cold-stored platelets have histo...
08/06/2026

Questioning dogma is part of what THOR is built to do.

Dr. Philip Spinella discussed how cold-stored platelets have historically been viewed in transfusion medicine, especially through platelet survival and count recovery.

His talk reframed the question around active bleeding: not just how long platelets circulate, but how well they support hemostasis when patients need them most.

Prof. Jason Smith presented results from the SWiFT Trial, Studying Whole Blood in Frontline Trauma.SWiFT compared prehos...
08/06/2026

Prof. Jason Smith presented results from the SWiFT Trial, Studying Whole Blood in Frontline Trauma.

SWiFT compared prehospital leukocyte-depleted whole blood with standard component therapy in trauma patients requiring transfusion for major hemorrhage.

The trial found no evidence that one treatment was significantly superior to the other. All-cause mortality through 90 days and other secondary outcomes showed no evidence of a difference between the two groups.

These results do not end the conversation on prehospital whole blood. They give the field more data to understand where whole blood fits in frontline trauma care.

The TOWAR Trial adds another important layer to the whole blood conversation.Dr. Jason Sperry presented results examinin...
08/06/2026

The TOWAR Trial adds another important layer to the whole blood conversation.

Dr. Jason Sperry presented results examining prehospital whole blood compared with component blood in injured patients requiring prehospital transfusion and at risk of hemorrhagic shock.

The trial did not show a lower 30-day mortality with whole blood compared with component therapy. At the same time, the discussion reinforced how much prehospital care has evolved, including changes in resuscitation, TXA use, TBI guidance, timing, and trauma system practice.

The takeaway: whole blood remains a critical area of study, but the answers are not one-dimensional.

The “whole truth” about whole blood is that there is still more to learn.COL Jennifer Gurney’s talk emphasized that whol...
08/06/2026

The “whole truth” about whole blood is that there is still more to learn.

COL Jennifer Gurney’s talk emphasized that whole blood has changed the way many trauma systems think about hemorrhage resuscitation, but the field still has important questions to answer.

Her key points included the need for more LTOWB studies, the importance of physiology, and the reminder that timing matters, logistics matter, and “age” may be more than just a number when evaluating blood products.

She also highlighted a central lesson from military medicine: the battlefield continues to answer questions that can shape civilian trauma care.

The takeaway: whole blood is not just a product. It is a resuscitation strategy that depends on evidence, timing, logistics, donor characteristics, and continued study.

Give patients what they bleed.

Cryopreserved platelets may have an important role, but context matters.Prof. Michael Reade presented results from the C...
08/06/2026

Cryopreserved platelets may have an important role, but context matters.

Prof. Michael Reade presented results from the CLIP-II Phase III trial, which compared cryopreserved platelets with liquid-stored platelets in high-risk cardiac surgery patients.

The trial could not conclude that cryopreserved platelets were non-inferior to liquid-stored platelets for bleeding in the first 24 hours after ICU admission. Several secondary outcomes also suggested cryopreserved platelets were less hemostatically effective in this setting.

But the takeaway was not that cryopreserved platelets have no role.

Instead, CLIP-II helps define where they may fit: not as a replacement for liquid-stored platelets when those are readily available, but as a potential option when platelet access is limited, including rural, remote, military, and austere environments.

For military practice, that distinction matters. The question is not always “what is the perfect product?” Sometimes it is “what can be available when no platelets would otherwise be there?”

Plasma at the point of need remains one of the biggest challenges in hemorrhage care, especially in military, prehospita...
08/06/2026

Plasma at the point of need remains one of the biggest challenges in hemorrhage care, especially in military, prehospital, and austere settings.

Dr. Andre Cap discussed FrontlineODP™, Velico’s spray-dried plasma system, and its potential role in making plasma more available when conventional frozen plasma is not practical or immediately accessible.

The Phase 1 trial evaluated safety in healthy volunteers using autologous plasma. Across 24 enrolled participants, the trial reported no safety signals, no thromboembolic events, and successful manufacturing and rehydration of 66 spray-dried plasma units with no bag breakage.

The larger takeaway: improving hemorrhage resuscitation is not only about the product itself. It is also about production, storage, transport, scalability, and getting plasma closer to the point of injury.

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