About Us
Meet Our Team
Blood Research Institute - Milwaukee, WI, USA
Senior Investigator
Professor of Pediatric Hematology
Research Interests: 1) demonstrated that FVIII is made in endothelial cells; 2) completed enrollment of our historical type 1 Von Willebrand disease
cohort of 500 families done across the USA; ...
Zimmerman Program Coordinator
CORE A Core A is the Administrative and Clinical Acquisition Core for the PPG
and all of its components. This PPG includes outstanding scientists within the Blood Research Institute and in Kingston
Ontario, Dublin, and the University of Colorado, that are tightly focused on the biology of von Willebrand factor (VWF)
and mechanisms causing von Willebrand Disease (VWD).
Ziegler Family Chair for Research
Senior Investigator
Professor Hartmut Weiler has research interests are: Thrombosis, Hemostasis, Vascular Biology / Immunobiology. His focus is understanding the
role of the blood coagulation system in general, and the biological functions of the natural Thrombomodulin (Thbd) – protein C anticoagulant
pathway, in particular. Current projects investigate the cellular and molecular mechanisms by which these physiological mechanisms affect the
host response to bacterial infections, control the development of the placenta, regulate the activation of the blood coagulation system,
and affect recovery of the hematopoietic system from injury and stress. Insights into the physiological functions of the protein C system
in these contexts are used to explore the potential for therapeutic interventions targeting this pathway in diseases like severe sepsis,
malaria, bone marrow failure after exposure to lethal doses of radiation, and in other progenitor cell-driven processes of tissue remodeling
after injury.
Director, Hemostasis
Senior Investigator
Dr. Sandra L Haberichter has research interests are: Thrombosis, Hemostatsis and Vascular Biology. Her focus on the Von Willebrand disease (VWD) is the most common inherited bleeding disorder.
Von Willebrand factor (VWF) is a very large, multimeric plasma glycoprotein. These VWF multimers function to bind to exposed subendotheliium upon vessel
injury and promote platelet-platelet interaction to initiate clotting. VWD is caused by decreased levels of VWF (type 1 VWD), a complete absence of
VWF (type 3 VWD), or VWF that does not function properly (type 2 VWD).
Other Team Members
Veronica Flood, MD (Associate Medical Director, Investigator)
Connie Kwas (Researcher)
Patti Morateck (Researcher)
Crystal Perry (Researcher)
WashU Medicine in St. Louis - St Louis, MO, USA
Professor of Pediatrics and Molecular Genetics & Genomics
Jorge Di Paola (Dee-Powl-la) is a Tenured Professor of Pediatrics at WashU Medicine in St. Louis where he is the Division
Chief of Pediatric Hematology Oncology. The Di Paola laboratory research focuses on the genetics laboratory research
focuses on the genetics of bleeding and thrombotic disorders and mechanisms of platelet activation. Over the years
his lab has made discoveries on the genetics of von Willebrand disease, signaling pathways that contribute
to the procoagulant response in platelets, novel roles for platelet mitochondria and the genetic variation of platelet
receptors. His laboratory has found disease causing genes for thrombocytopenia disorders as well as a cancer predisposition
syndrome. Specifically, that mutations in NBEAL2 cause the elusive Gray Platelet Syndrome and that mutations in ETV6 cause
thrombocytopenia and predisposition to leukemia. More recently his research also focused on the effect of inflammation and
ageing on megakaryopoiesis and platelet activation. He has trained > 25 graduate students and postdoctoral fellows, and is
a mentor for several junior faculty.
Research Instructor
Brooke Sadler is the co-director of a genetics and genomics core for a program project grant on the biology of von Willebrand Disease.
She is engaged in performing bioinformatical analyses on large-scale exome and genome datasets. She is particularly familiar with
rare-variant analysis strategies and copy-number variation analyses.
Postdoctoral Research Associate
Lili received her PhD in Human and Statistical Genetics at WashU. Her research work and interests focus on the development and application
of statistical methods, tools and pipelines for analysis and identification of genetic variants in large-scale genomic data.
Programmer Analyst
Angell is the engineer developing the Zimmerman Analytic Platform (ZAP),
a web-based platform for investigators researching von Willebrand Disease and other conditions related to abnormal VWF.
Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland - Dublin, IE
Director of Irish Centre for Vascular Biology
Principal Investigator
Professor O’Donnell received his medical degree from Trinity College Dublin.
After internship and medical residency in Australia, he completed clinical haematology
training in the Hammersmith and Royal Free Hospitals in London. In 1998, he obtained a
Medical Research Council Training Fellowship, and was awarded his PhD by Imperial College
London in 2001. He subsequently completed a Post-Doctoral Fellowship in the Hammersmith Hospital,
and was appointed as Senior Lecturer in Imperial College in 2004. He is a Fellow of both the Royal
College of Physicians of Ireland, and the Royal College of Pathologists (UK). Following his return
to Ireland, he became the first clinician scientist to receive the prestigious Science Foundation
Ireland President of Ireland Young Investigator award. He is currently Professor of Vascular
Biology in the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland and Director of the recently established
Irish Centre for Vascular Biology. The Haemostasis Research laboratory led by Prof. O'Donnell
has been awarded more than £12 million in peer-reviewed grant funding since 2006. His research
programme in Ireland has been funded by Science Foundation Ireland, the Health Research Board (HRB),
the Irish Heart Foundation, the Wellcome Trust and the National Children's Research Centre (NCRC).
Prof O'Donnell's laboratory has focussed on basic research related to different aspects of vascular
biology in relation to clinical bleeding and thrombosis. He has published more than 130 publications
in high impact peer reviewed journals (including the New England Journal of Medicine, Blood, ATVB
and J Biol Chem). On the basis of this research, he has also been invited to give numerous lectures
at the most prestigious national and international haematology meetings, including the American Society
of Hematology Annual Meeting, the Gordon Conference in Hemostasis and the Congress of the International
Society for Thrombosis and Haemostasis.
Other Team Members
Dearbhla Doherty (Investigator)
Ferdows Atiq (Investigator)
Queen's University at Kingston - Kingston,ON, CA
Canada Research Chair in Molecular Hemostasis
Principal Investigator
Dr. David Lillicrap works in the Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine. His Research Interests:
All of the research being undertaken by this group relates to molecular aspects of the
hemostatic (coagulation) system. In the normal physiological state, a delicate balance
is preserved between pro- and anti-coagulant factors that contributes to the maintenance of
the normal circulation. When this balance is disrupted, bleeding or thrombosis occurs.
This research program utilizes the potential of molecular genetics and molecular biology
to address a variety questions relating to pathological hemostasis. The studies range from
an investigation of the mechanisms regulating production of the adhesive hemostatic protein,
von Willebrand Factor, to the development of strategies for gene therapy for the inherited bleeding
disease, hemophilia.
Graduate Program Director
Principal Investigator
Pro. Paula James' Research Interests:
genotype/phenotype interactions in all subtypes of von Willebrand disease and in Hemophilia.
Other Team Members
Nathalie Tijet (Investigator)
Mackenzie Bowman (Investigator)
Colleen Notley (Lab Technologist)
Julie Grabell (Researcher)
University of Colorado School of Medicine - Aurora, CO, USA
Assistant Professor in Pediatrics-Heme/Onc and Bone Marrow Transplantation
Principal Investigator
Dr. Christopher Ng specializes in Pediatric Hematology / Oncology. He primarily focuses on caring
for patients with bleeding and thrombotic disorders. He also strives to develop novel diagnostic assays
and therapies to advance our knowledge in the treatment of these diseases, hoping to improve the patients' lives.