Scientific Committee on Thrombosis & Vascular Biology

Committee Roster

Chair
Vivien Chen, MBBS, PhD  ('26)

Vice Chair
Evi Stavrou, MD  ('26)

Appointed Members
Tomasz Brzoska, PhD  ('28)
Audrey Cleuren, PhD  ('28)
Eleni Gavriilaki, MD, PhD  ('26)
Ang Li, MD, MS  ('28)
Cheryl Maier, MD, PhD  ('26)
Sol Schulman, MD  ('26)
Erica Sparkenbaugh, PhD  ('28)
Prithu Sundd, PhD  ('27)

Staff Liaison
Alice Kuaban, MS

Committee Mandate

The Scientific Committee on Thrombosis and Vascular Biology focused on areas within Hematology related to thrombosis and vascular biology. It covers the scientific and clinical areas of:

  • hypercoagulability (arterial and venous thrombosis),
  • vascular cell biology and vascular diseases (e.g. atherosclerosis),
  • interplay between blood and vascular cells,
  • stem and progenitor cells,
  • mechanisms of blood vessel development (angiogenesis),
  • thrombosis and angiogenesis in cancer
  • interplay between blood cells, the vessel wall, and innate and adaptive immunity

The Committee covers the methodological aspects of:

  • novel bioimaging adaptations relevant to thrombosis detection and monitoring,
  • novel genetic and molecular regulators of thrombosis and vascular biology,
  • novel diagnostics related to thrombosis (e.g., gene profiles, SNPs, new functional assays),
  • animal models of thrombosis,
  • population studies related to thrombosis.

The Committee covers the emerging areas of:

  • new genetic modifiers and epidemiology of thrombosis,
  • new endothelial markers/regulators of thrombosis,
  • stem cell biology and endothelial modifiers,

This Committee differs from a closely related Scientific Committee on Hemostasis is that it covers more specifically pathological blood clotting/thrombosis, whereas, the Committee on Hemostasis mostly covers bleeding disorders and normal physiological hemostatic processes. This Committee is also distinct from the Committee on Platelets, as it focuses on the interplay of endothelial cells, platelets, and coagulation proteins in thrombosis. This committee’s interests overlap with platelet biology when discussing platelet signaling and thrombosis.

In addition, Vascular Biology is a growing field that is unique to this Committee. Historically, the annual meeting sessions of this committee and the closely related scientific committees mentioned above have at times overlapped, as the interests of our constituents cross-cut these fields. However, there has always been open communication and collaboration between these committees due to their joint efforts in organizing the Special Symposium on the Basic Science of Hemostasis and Thrombosis, and commitment to sharing information among the three committees. This committee is looking forward to the continuation of these collaborations.

Thus, appropriate sessions at the annual meeting may include:

  • molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying venous and arterial thrombosis
  • identification of genetic factors, biomarkers, and functional predictors of thrombosis and response to anti-thrombotic therapy
  • interplay of cellular and fluid-phase in thrombosis
  • population genetics and epidemiology of thrombosis, venous and/or arterial, hypercoagulability, and genetic risks
  • developmental aspects of venous/arterial endothelial cells
  • vascular permeability
  • imaging of endothelium, thrombosis, microvascular occlusion, and response to injury
  • mechanisms of thrombosis in patients with chronic hemolytic diseases
  • identification of novel anti-thrombotic targets and/or preclinical models for testing human therapeutics