About Us
Meet Our Team
WashU Medicine in St. Louis - St Louis, MO, USA
Professor of Pediatrics and Molecular Genetics & Genomics
Division Chief - Division of Hematology & Oncology
Jorge Di Paola (Dee-Powl-la) is a Tenured Professor of Pediatrics at WashU Medicine in St. Louis where he is the Division Chief of Pediatric Hematology Oncology. The Di Paola laboratory research focuses on the genetics laboratory research focuses on the genetics of bleeding and thrombotic disorders and mechanisms of platelet activation. Over the years his lab has made discoveries on the genetics of von Willebrand disease, signaling pathways that contribute to the procoagulant response in platelets, novel roles for platelet mitochondria and the genetic variation of platelet receptors. His laboratory has found disease causing genes for thrombocytopenia disorders as well as a cancer predisposition syndrome. Specifically, that mutations in NBEAL2 cause the elusive Gray Platelet Syndrome and that mutations in ETV6 cause thrombocytopenia and predisposition to leukemia. More recently his research also focused on the effect of inflammation and ageing on megakaryopoiesis and platelet activation. He has trained > 25 graduate students and postdoctoral fellows, and is a mentor for several junior faculty.
Jorge Di Paola (Dee-Powl-la) is a Tenured Professor of Pediatrics at WashU Medicine in St. Louis where he is the Division Chief of Pediatric Hematology Oncology. The Di Paola laboratory research focuses on the genetics laboratory research focuses on the genetics of bleeding and thrombotic disorders and mechanisms of platelet activation. Over the years his lab has made discoveries on the genetics of von Willebrand disease, signaling pathways that contribute to the procoagulant response in platelets, novel roles for platelet mitochondria and the genetic variation of platelet receptors. His laboratory has found disease causing genes for thrombocytopenia disorders as well as a cancer predisposition syndrome. Specifically, that mutations in NBEAL2 cause the elusive Gray Platelet Syndrome and that mutations in ETV6 cause thrombocytopenia and predisposition to leukemia. More recently his research also focused on the effect of inflammation and ageing on megakaryopoiesis and platelet activation. He has trained > 25 graduate students and postdoctoral fellows, and is a mentor for several junior faculty.
Professor of Medicine and Genetics
Director, Center for Cardiovascular Genetics
Director, Translational Cardiovascular Genetics
Professor Nathan O. Stitziel specializes in Cardiovascular genetics; inherited cardiovascular disease;
genetic syndromes; cardiomyopathy, arrhythmia genetics.
Research Interests: Naturally occurring human genetic variation has proven to be a powerful tool for uncovering causal
genes and pathways in a variety of cardiovascular disorders. Despite substantial progress in gene mapping,
however, the majority of the inherited basis for complex cardiovascular traits remains unexplained.
Recently developed techniques allowing for low-cost interrogation of the entire genome are now ushering
in a new era of genetic studies. New analytic challenges are simultaneously being uncovered as we face
the daunting task of interpreting and translating increasingly large amounts of complex genetic data.
Research Instructor
Brooke Sadler is the co-director of a genetics and genomics core for a program project grant on the biology of von Willebrand Disease.
She is engaged in performing bioinformatical analyses on large-scale exome and genome datasets. She is particularly familiar with
rare-variant analysis strategies and copy-number variation analyses.
Postdoctoral Research Associate
Lili received her PhD in Human and Statistical Genetics at WashU. Her research work and interests focus on the development and application
of statistical methods, tools and pipelines for analysis and identification of genetic variants in large-scale genomic data.
Programmer Analyst
Angell is the engineer developing the Zimmerman Analytic Platform (ZAP),
a web-based platform for investigators researching von Willebrand Disease and other conditions related to abnormal VWF.
Medical College of Wisconsin and Blood Research Institute - Milwaukee, WI, USA
Medical Director and Program Director, Clinical Hematology, Children's Wisconsin
Professor and Chief, Medical College of Wisconsin
Principal Investigator
Dr. Veronica Flood is a pediatric hematologist with extensive expertise in coagulation disorders, particularly von Willebrand
disease (VWD). Her research focuses on von Willebrand factor (VWF) structure-function relationships, including platelet and
collagen interactions. She has led multiple NIH-funded projects, including studies on VWF A1 domain polymorphisms and
VWF-collagen binding mechanisms. Dr. Flood serves as Clinical Chair for the ASH VWD management guidelines and has published
widely on VWD diagnosis and clinical management. As PI of the Biorepository and Central Laboratory Core, she oversees
collaborative efforts to advance understanding and care for patients with VWD.
Co-Principal Investigator and Biorepository Coordinator
Pamela Christopherson serves as the Co-PI and coordinator of the Biorepository and Central Laboratory Core
for the Zimmerman Program. She oversees patient accrual, sample testing, and compliance with the central IRB at MCW.
Pam manages the central database and biorepository, which houses over 100,000 plasma and DNA samples, ensuring
these critical resources are available for collaborative studies. She has played a key role in developing the systems
that support efficient data exchange among investigators and advancing research on VWF and its underlying genetic basis.
Other Team Members
Crystal Perry (Researcher)
Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland - Dublin, IE
Director of Irish Centre for Vascular Biology
Principal Investigator
Professor O’Donnell received his medical degree from Trinity College Dublin.
After internship and medical residency in Australia, he completed clinical haematology
training in the Hammersmith and Royal Free Hospitals in London. In 1998, he obtained a
Medical Research Council Training Fellowship, and was awarded his PhD by Imperial College
London in 2001. He subsequently completed a Post-Doctoral Fellowship in the Hammersmith Hospital,
and was appointed as Senior Lecturer in Imperial College in 2004. He is a Fellow of both the Royal
College of Physicians of Ireland, and the Royal College of Pathologists (UK). Following his return
to Ireland, he became the first clinician scientist to receive the prestigious Science Foundation
Ireland President of Ireland Young Investigator award. He is currently Professor of Vascular
Biology in the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland and Director of the recently established
Irish Centre for Vascular Biology. The Haemostasis Research laboratory led by Prof. O'Donnell
has been awarded more than £12 million in peer-reviewed grant funding since 2006. His research
programme in Ireland has been funded by Science Foundation Ireland, the Health Research Board (HRB),
the Irish Heart Foundation, the Wellcome Trust and the National Children's Research Centre (NCRC).
Prof O'Donnell's laboratory has focussed on basic research related to different aspects of vascular
biology in relation to clinical bleeding and thrombosis. He has published more than 130 publications
in high impact peer reviewed journals (including the New England Journal of Medicine, Blood, ATVB
and J Biol Chem). On the basis of this research, he has also been invited to give numerous lectures
at the most prestigious national and international haematology meetings, including the American Society
of Hematology Annual Meeting, the Gordon Conference in Hemostasis and the Congress of the International
Society for Thrombosis and Haemostasis.
Other Team Members
Dearbhla Doherty (Investigator)
Ferdows Atiq (Investigator)
Queen's University at Kingston - Kingston,ON, CA
Canada Research Chair in Molecular Hemostasis
Principal Investigator
Dr. David Lillicrap works in the Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine. His Research Interests:
All of the research being undertaken by this group relates to molecular aspects of the
hemostatic (coagulation) system. In the normal physiological state, a delicate balance
is preserved between pro- and anti-coagulant factors that contributes to the maintenance of
the normal circulation. When this balance is disrupted, bleeding or thrombosis occurs.
This research program utilizes the potential of molecular genetics and molecular biology
to address a variety questions relating to pathological hemostasis. The studies range from
an investigation of the mechanisms regulating production of the adhesive hemostatic protein,
von Willebrand Factor, to the development of strategies for gene therapy for the inherited bleeding
disease, hemophilia.
Graduate Program Director
Principal Investigator
Dr. Paula James is a Professor in the Department of Medicine, with cross-appointments to Pathology & Molecular
Medicine and Pediatrics.
Dr. James is a Principal Investigator in the Clinical and Molecular Hemostasis Research Group at Queen’s University
with an active basic and clinical research program investigating the genetic basis of inherited bleeding disorders
as well as the quantitation of bleeding symptoms. Her group is comprised of post-doctoral fellows, graduate students
and well as research associates. In recent years, activities have included validating and publishing bleeding assessment
tools (BATs), which have gained international recognition as well as optimizing a protocol for culturing ECFCs (Endothelial
Colony Forming Cells) from patients with both inherited and acquired diseases. In May 2015, the Let’s Talk Period website
and aligned social media accounts were launched to increase knowledge about abnormal bleeding.
Senior Scientist at SickKids
Professor in Molecular Genetics at University of Toronto
Mike is a Senior Scientist at SickKids and a Professor in Molecular Genetics at University of Toronto.
Mike was a post-doctoral fellow with Dr. Duncan Odom at Cambridge Research Institute. He completed his PhD with
Dr. Ben Koop at University of Victoria.
Michael D. Wilson leads a research group that uses genomic technologies, multi-species comparisons, bioinformatics
and molecular biology to uncover gene and genome regulatory mechanisms that are relevant to developmental and disease
processes. By comparing epigenetic regulation between species, with a focus on the cardiovascular system, his team is
uncovering fundamental mechanisms of genome regulation.
Other Team Members
Nathalie Tijet (Investigator)
Mackenzie Bowman (Investigator)
Colleen Notley (Lab Technologist)
Julie Grabell (Researcher)
Connor Kidd (Graduate Student)