Our objective
Research undertaken within our Group is focused on determining the mechanisms underlying clot formation in healthy individuals; applying this knowledge to better understand the mechanisms leading to platelet hyperactivity and pathological blood clot formation; and ultimately development of safer and more effective therapies to treat cardiovascular diseases, including heart attack, stroke, diabetes and the metabolic syndrome.
Our impact
Atherothrombosis is arguably Australia’s greatest healthcare problem, affecting over 50% of the adult population. Despite intense investigation over the last 40 years into the discovery and development of more effective antithrombotic drugs, the impact of these therapies on mortality rates has remained disappointingly low. This situation is likely to worsen in the future due to the rapidly growing incidence of obesity, diabetes and the metabolic syndrome – diseases that are typically more resistant to the benefits of “classical” antithrombotic therapy. The comprehensive research approach adopted by our Group is designed to identify and target thrombosis risk in such diseases.
Selected publications
Jackson SP, et al. Thromboinflammation: challenges of therapeutically targeting coagulation and other host defense mechanisms. Blood. 2019;133(9):906–918. doi:10.1182/blood-2018-11-882993.
Ju L, et al. Compression force sensing regulates integrin α(IIb)β(3) adhesive function on diabetic platelets. Nat Commun. 2018 Mar 14;9(1):1087.
Yuan Y, et al. Neutrophil macroaggregates promote widespread pulmonary thrombosis after gut ischemia. Sci Transl Med. 2017 Sep 27;9(409).
Schoenwaelder SM, et al. 14-3-3ζ regulates the mitochondrial respiratory reserve linked to platelet phosphatidylserine exposure and procoagulant function. Nat Commun. 2016 Sep 27;7:12862.
Nesbitt WS, et al. A shear gradient-dependent platelet aggregation mechanism drives thrombus formation. Nat Med. 2009 Jun;15(6):665-73.
Jackson SP, et al. PI 3-kinase p110beta: a new target for antithrombotic therapy. Nat Med. 2005 May;11(5):507-14. Epub 2005 Apr 17.