Dr. Brodsky’s clinical research involves thrombotic microangiopathies, aplastic anemia, paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH) and other bone marrow failure disorders. He and his colleagues have shown that HLA-haploidentical bone marrow transplant with high-dose post-transplant cyclophosphamide can cure most patients with severe aplastic anemia and hemoglobinopathies including sickle cell anemia. Other clinical research activities involve the use of complement inhibitors to treat complementopathies such as PNH, atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome, and the HELLP syndrome.
His laboratory focuses on complement. He developed to the FLAER assay to diagnose PNH and the modified Ham (mHam) test to distinguish atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome from other thrombotic microangiopathic hemolytic anemias. His lab has used the mHam to uncover germline complement mutations in other complementopathies such as HELLP syndrome, antiphospholipid antibody syndrome, and catastrophic antiphospholipid antibody syndrome (CAPS). Using the mHam he has shown that the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein dysregulates the alternative pathway of complement by interfering with the function of complement factor H on the cell surface. He also studies the interplay between the complement and coagulation cascades.