Defining and harnessing the megakaryocyte/platelet checkpoint

About
Platelets are anucleate blood cells that are produced by megakaryocytes (MKs) and play a central role in thrombosis and haemostasis. However, the mechanism regulating the number and reactivity of platelets in the circulation remains undefined. We propose this is governed by a MK/platelet checkpoint that safeguards against haphazard platelet production and thrombosis. Defining and harnessing this checkpoint will lead to a better understand and improved therapeutics of thrombotic and haemorrhagic disorders.

Bio
Professor Yotis Senis was awarded his undergraduate and graduate degrees in Life Sciences and Pathology from the Queen’s University, Canada. His postdoctoral training was with Professor Steve Watson in Pharmacology, University of Oxford, UK. He was a British Heart Foundation Intermediate and Senior Research Fellow and Professor of Cellular Haemostasis in Cardiovascular Sciences, University of Birmingham, UK, and Inserm Director of Research at the National Blood Transfusion Centre, Strasbourg, France. He is currently Inserm Director of Research at the Centre for Cardiovascular and Nutrition Research, Aix-Marseille University, France, and an ERC Advanced Investigator Laureate.

Professor Senis takes a multidisciplinary approach, investigating the interplay between tyrosine phosphatases and kinases in the regulation of platelet production and function in health and disease, with the overall objective of identifying novel drug targets and developing antibody-based approaches for the treatment of thrombotic and haemostatic disorders.

Hosted by PI Ángel García Alonso. Platelet Proteomics group, CiMUS

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