As a clinical investigator, Dr. Kiss has been the recipient of federal funding for the past 13 years as a member/grantee of several NHLBI-sponsored research programs, including the Transfusion Medicine Hemostasis/Thrombosis Clinical Trials Network (TMH-CTN), and REDS-II and III programs [REDS is an acronym for Retrovirus(REDS-II) or Recipient (REDS-III) Epidemiology in Donors Study], and through the RO1 award mechanism (STRIDE-Strategies to Reduce Iron Deficiency). His research interests include studies in thrombotic microangiopathies, particularly thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP). He served as protocol lead/PI on the multicenter Study of TTP and Rituximab (STAR) trial in 2009. Although the trial was closed early, the study was innovative in its design to utilize immunotherapy (rituximab) up front in a randomized controlled trial in acquired (autoimmune) TTP that has served as a template for other non- randomized studies performed successfully in Europe. He is continuing his research work in TTP as a site PI for caplacizumab, a novel heavy chain monoclonal antibody that blocks VonWillebrand A1domain-platelet receptor Ib binding. He is also pursuing therapies for other thrombotic microangiopathies, such as “TAMOF”, or Thrombocytopenia-associated Multiorgan Failure, with plans for designing a randomized pilot trial utilizing plasma exchange.
Dr. Kiss also has been active in studying factors associated with the development of iron-deficiency and the effectiveness of low dose iron supplementation for this condition, utilizing blood donors as a research model. He served as a coinvestigator and leader of the laboratory substudy on the REDS-II Iron Study Evaluation (RISE), a multicenter observational study that redefined the prevalence of and risk factors for iron deficiency in US blood donors. This trial led to the pivotal Hemoglobin and Iron Recovery Study (HEIRS), a randomized controlled trial of low dose iron supplementation in blood donors. The primary results of this study were published in JAMA in 2015. Several ancillary studies are now being analyzed and prepared for publication, including a study quantifying iron compartments in blood donors and a study of iron biomarkers, including hepcidin and erythropoietin in relation to iron and hemoglobin recovery. In addition, Dr. Kiss has served as the site-PI on the STRIDE-Strategies to Reduce Iron Deficiency study, which tested several operational approaches to improve the compromised iron status of blood donors, including measurement and notification of ferritin levels and the use of two different iron formulations taken over a two year period of regular blood donation. Ancillary operational and iron quantification studies are also being published in relation to this trial.
- AB, Boston University, 1974
- MD, Georgetown University, 1978
- Residency and Chief Resident, University of Pittsburgh, 1982
- Fellowship, Hematology/Oncology, Hospital of the University of PA, 1985
- Fellowship, Blood Banking, Central Blood Bank of Pittsburgh, 1986
Education & Training
Jones JM, Kaplan A, Chibisov I, Then J, Novelli EM, Kiss JE. Initial US tertiary health care system experience using caplacizumab in patients with immune thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura. Ann Hematol. 2024 Nov;103(11):4449-4457. PMID: 39259327.
Seheult JN, Stram MN, Sevcik J, Kaplan A, Kiss JE. Benchmarking the centralized urgent plasma exchange service for patients admitted with a diagnosis of suspected acquired thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura at a large healthcare system. J Clin Apher. 2021 Oct;36(5):678-686. PMID: 34170022.
Mast AE, Szabo A, Stone M, Cable RG, Spencer BR, Kiss JE; NHLBI Recipient Epidemiology Donor Evaluation Study (REDS)-III. The benefits of iron supplementation following blood donation vary with baseline iron status. Am J Hematol. 2020 Jul;95(7):784-791. PMID: 32243609.
Kaplan A, Sevcik J, Kiss JE. Low titer A plasma in three AB patients for therapeutic plasma exchange. J Clin Apher. 2019 Feb;34(1):7-12. PMID: 30468520.
Raval JS, Gorantla VS, Shores JT, Lee WP, Planinsic RM, Rollins-Raval MA, Brandacher G, King KE, Losee JE, Kiss JE. Blood product utilization in human upper-extremity transplantation: challenges, complications, considerations, and transfusion protocol conception. Transfusion. 2017 Mar;57(3):606-612. PMID: 28297082.
Cable RG, Brambilla D, Glynn SA, Kleinman S, Mast AE, Spencer BR, Stone M, Kiss JE; National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Recipient Epidemiology and Donor Evaluation Study-III (REDS-III). Effect of iron supplementation on iron stores and total body iron after whole blood donation. Transfusion. 2016 Aug;56(8):2005-12. PMID: 27232535.
Raval JS, Padmanabhan A, Kremer Hovinga JA, Kiss JE. Development of a clinically significant ADAMTS13 inhibitor in a patient with hereditary thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura. Am J Hematol. 2015 Jan;90(1):E22. PMID: 25219856.
Raval JS, Harm SK, Rollins-Raval MA, Kiss JE. Seasonal distribution of severe ADAMTS13 deficient idiopathic thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura. J Clin Apher. 2014 Apr;29(2):113-9. PMID: 24123112.
Kiss JE, Brambilla D, Glynn SA, Mast AE, Spencer BR, Stone M, Kleinman SH, Cable RG; National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) Recipient Epidemiology and Donor Evaluation Study–III (REDS-III). Oral iron supplementation after blood donation: a randomized clinical trial. JAMA. 2015 Feb 10;313(6):575-83. PMID: 25668261.
Kiss JE, Steele WR, Wright DJ, Mast AE, Carey PM, Murphy EL, Gottschall JL, Simon TL, Cable RG; NHLBI Retrovirus Epidemiology Donor Study-II. Laboratory variables for assessing iron deficiency in REDS-II Iron Status Evaluation (RISE) blood donors. Transfusion. 2013 Nov;53(11):2766-75. PMID: 23617531.
