Dr. Joan Beckman receives K08 award from National Heart, Lung, & Blood Institute

Joan Beckman, MD, PhD, received a K08 award from the National Heart, Lung, & Blood Institute. With the support of this award, Dr. Beckman will investigate the mechanisms underlying thrombosis in myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs), a group of blood disorders characterized by excessive production of red blood cells, platelets, or leukocytes. Dr. Beckman will employ sophisticated microfluidic models to understand the roles of blood cells and vascular endothelial cells in MPN pathophysiology and test novel therapeutic approaches to prevent or mitigate thrombosis in MPN. Dr. Beckman’s primary mentor is Dr. David Wood, an Associate Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering and expert in microfluidics. Other mentors include Drs. Angela Panoskaltsis-Mortari, Greg Vercellotti, and Nigel Key (University of North Carolina). Dr. Beckman also assembled an external research advisory committee of national leaders in the MPN field. These distinguished mentors and MPN experts will provide Dr. Beckman with research support and career development advice to ensure her development into an independent physician-scientist and leader in discovering new antithrombotic targets for MPN.