Andreas Greinacher

Biography: Andreas Greinacher, specialized for transfusion medicine, immunohematology and clinical immunology, is full professor and head of the department of transfusion medicine at the Universitätsmedizin Greifswald, Germany. His research interests are hereditary and immune mediated thrombocytopenias, especially heparin-induced thrombocytopenia and application of biophysics to understand molecular mechanisms of antigenicity of endogenous proteins. He has published more than 500 papers on these topics.

 

Mentoring Philosophy: Supporting and mentoring young colleagues is the most important obligation of physicians and physician scientists, but also their most rewarding privilege.

 

Marvin T. Nieman

Biography: As I have developed my own research program in platelet biology, I have been working to define the assembly of receptor complexes to determine how they work together at the molecular level to mediate physiological responses. Since 2007, my laboratory has focused on the factors that determine the efficiency of thrombin signaling through PAR4, which is one of the initiating steps of platelet activation. Our initial studies determined the molecular interactions between PAR4 and thrombin and how they influence the kinetics of PAR4 cleavage. Next, we determined that PAR1 enhances the rate of PAR4 cleavage by thrombin and that PAR1-PAR4 heterodimers are required for this PAR1 assisted PAR4 cleavage. More recently, we have used structural mass spectrometry to identify the ligand binding site and an essential role for ECL3 in PAR4 activation. Further, a polymorphism in ECL3, P310L, leads to reduced PAR4 signaling. The Leu allele is also associated with a 15% relative risk reduction in venous thromboembolism (VTE). I am currently the Vice Dean of Graduate Education at the School of Medicine where I oversee 16 PhD programs and 15 master’s programs that have a combined enrolment of 380 doctoral students and 1050 masters students. I have also held leadership positions in both scientific and education-based committees. I am currently serving on the ASPET Division of Pharmacology Education Executive Committee and American Society for Hematology (ASH) Standing Committee on Communication. I have previously served on the ASH Scientific Committee on Platelets and the AHA-ATVB Leadership Committee. I have also served on grant review study sections for the American Heart Association and the NIH. My work has been independently funded by the American Heart Association, the American Society for Hematology, the NIH and the Gilead Scholars Cardiovascular Program. I have published 46 peer reviewed articles, 3 book chapters, and 5 invited commentaries. My path is been indirect and non-traditional. This has allowed me to approach my career development and research program with a unique perspective. I think this has been essential in develop and maintain several national and international collaborations in research and curriculum development.

 

Mentoring Philosophy: The mentor’s job is to help the mentee uncover their professional goals and the discover the tools the mentee needs for their definition of success in their career.

 

Andrew Danner Johnson

Biography: Andrew has co-authored more than 200 scientific manuscripts with >31,000 citations (h-index 88). Since 2009, Andrew and his Lab have been attending and presenting at ISTH Scientific Sessions. Andrew received his Ph.D. in Biomedical Sciences with dual degree emphasis in Bioinformatics and Pharmacogenomics from the Ohio State University in 2007. Since 2007, he has more than 14 years of experience as a Government (NIH) scientist. The primary focus of his Lab is understanding the sources of variability both genetic and environmental that influence human platelet responsiveness and platelet counts, and how these contribute to disease and disorders. A hallmark of the Lab is collecting large-scale datasets on platelet reactivity and OMICs in human populations, as well as collaborating with cellular and model organism biologists. Andrew has served the ISTH on the Thrombogenomics SSC, as an ISTH abstract grader and moderator, in teaching educational ISTH sessions and an ISTH Master class. Outside the ISTH, Andrew has had many volunteer, grant review and leadership roles in The Framingham Heart Study, the American Heart Association, the NIH and ad-hoc Expert panels. He currently serves as Co-Chair of the NHLBI TOPMed Hematology & Hemostasis Working Group. Andrew has conducted peer review for more than 65 journals including numerous times for Platelets, JTH, Blood, Circulation, Circulation Research, J. Thrombosis Thrombolysis, Thrombosis Haemostasis, Bioinformatics, Genome Biology and Nature Communications. He has trained 22 students at the undergraduate, graduate and post-doctoral level with nearly all of them continuing on medical and academic scientific career paths. He views the mentor-mentee relationship as a bi-directional learning experience and aims to maximize the benefits to both people by fostering open and honest communication, establishing their common goals and interests, providing a mixture of low/high risk-reward projects and timelines, engagement with peer review activities as vital learning, and promotion of a trainee-first-over-mentor ethic in opportunities for authorship and making recognized research presentations.

 

Mentoring Philosophy: He views the mentor-mentee relationship as a bi-directional learning experience and aims to maximize the benefits to both people by fostering open and honest communication, establishing their common goals and interests, providing a mixture of low/high risk-reward projects and timelines, engagement with peer review activities as vital learning, and promotion of a trainee-first-over-mentor ethic in opportunities for authorship and making recognized research presentations.

 

Elizabeth Gardiner

Biography: Professor Elizabeth Gardiner is the Deputy Director of the John Curtin School of Medical Research at the Australian National University, Canberra, Australia. She is Scientific Director of the National Platelet Referral and Research Centre at ANU and The Canberra Hospital. She has published 160 peer-reviewed research papers, commentaries and reviews in the area of platelet biochemistry and platelet function, particularly relevant to both thrombosis and bleeding in patients. She identified a novel mechanism for shedding of vascular receptors triggered by shear stress, enabling new capabilities in diagnostic and therapeutic reagent development. She is a Trustee of the Thrombosis and Haemostasis Society of Australia and New Zealand (THANZ), a Principal Editor and the Methods Editor of the journal Platelets, an Associate Editor of Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology, and on the Editorial Board of Blood. She is Treasurer of the National Association of Research Fellows (NARF). She was Chair of the American Society of Hematology (ASH) Scientific Committee on Platelets and Megakaryocytes and co-Chair of the International Society for Thrombosis and Haemostasis Biorheology Scientific Subcommittee. She is on the ISTH Membership Committee and the ISTH Basic Science Taskforce.

 

Mentoring Philosophy: A mentor helps you grow your skills, make better decisions, and gain new perspectives on your life and career. Sometimes a mentor fulfils only one or two of those aspects, so the secret is to have several, and draw on their specific strengths and attributes.

 

Jean M. Connors

Biography: Jean M. Connors, MD is a hematology attending at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Dana Farber Cancer Institute; the Medical Director of the Anticoagulation Management Services, and the Hemostatic Antithrombotic Stewardship Program; and an Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. She received a medical degree from The Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, completed her residency in internal medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, as well as fellowships in transfusion medicine and hematology & oncology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Dr. Connors is an Associate Editor for the Journal of Thrombosis and Haemostasis and is a member of or holds a leadership role in many professional societies, including ASH and ISTH. She has participated in numerous clinical trials for patients with venous thrombosis in cancer, COVID-19, and anticoagulation questions in general.

 

Mentoring Philosophy: Mentoring is a synergistic partnership that fosters the development of knowledge, skills, and approaches to problem solving that ultimately allow the mentee to work independently.