Sepsis is a common and deadly syndrome linked to an infection of the bloodstream. Millions of people are diagnosed with sepsis each year, and on average 30% will die or become disabled from the severe inflammation and coagulation abnormalities that result. CNM scientists have discovered a receptor system in the body that modulates host protection in sepsis. This receptor system controls inflammatory responses, blood coagulation and thrombosis, and thereby affecting host survival. We have further learned how to manipulate this receptor system to reduce inflammation and thrombosis to increase survival in both Gram-positive and Gram-negative sepsis. These approaches include possibly the first effective drugs in decades that can be used to treat sepsis. These new therapeutic strategies alter the rate of blood protein aging and turnover, and in this way have indicated specific enzymes and small molecule drugs already available that can be repurposed for targeted therapies of sepsis. CNM scientists are working to establish this potential and in collaboration with our colleagues at hospitals and other research institutes, and with local Cottage Hospital physicians are analyzing hundreds of blood samples of sepsis patients to ultimately determine the most precise means by which to increase patient survival of this deadly syndrome.