John Hwa, MD, PhD, FRACP

The Hwa Laboratory research interests focuses on platelet metabolic reprogramming under stress conditions (e.g. hyperglycemia, oxidative stress) leading to thrombosis and critical intercellular communication with such cells as endothelial cells, vascular smooth muscle cells, and T-cells. Platelets play key roles in the regulation of vascular stress response, including hemostasis, immunoregulation, initiation of repair, and cessation of the repair process. Defective platelets thus contributes to vascular pathology including thromboinflammation, intimal hyperplasia, aneurysm formation, and immune dysregulation.

Our current studies can be broadly divided into the following major areas.

1) Platelet metabolic reprogramming in response to stress and aging

2) Platelet communication to other cells in health and disease

3) The Yale cardiovascular tissue repository collaborative effort