Lisa K. Jennings, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Medicine
   Director, Vascular Biology Center of Excellence

Center of Excellence Director

Dr. Jennings is a Professor of Medicine at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center with joint appointments in the Departments of Molecular Science, Biomedical Engineering and Surgery. She has been active in the field of platelet biochemistry and platelet function testing since 1978. In the early 1980s she isolated and characterized glycoprotein GPIIb-IIIa, the receptor responsible for platelet thrombus formation . (Jennings and Phillips, JBC, 1981)

This discovery was a crucial step in the development of GPIIb-IIIa inhibitors or “super aspirins.” Annually, more than 1 million patients in the US suffering from unstable angina, non-Q-wave MI and undergoing PCI or intracoronary stenting are candidates for these anti-thrombotic therapies.

The Vascular Biology Center of Excellence houses the only core laboratory established for the pharmacodynamic evaluation of antiplatelet and anticoagulant therapies including the evaluation of proinflammatiry markers and genotyping. As a result, Dr. Jennings has achieved international recognition as the premier laboratory for the evaluation of anti-thrombotic therapies and currently facilitates specialized laboratory testing in both pharmaceutical and investigator initiated trials .

Currently, the focus of Dr. Jennings' research is to understand the molecular mechanisms that regulate the activation states of adhesion molecules, particularly GPIIb-IIIa and CD9. This has application in several disease states including cancer, heart disease, stroke, diabetes and blindness. She has been principal author of more than forty journal articles and review articles and serves as reviewer for dozens of journals. For a more detailed reference of Dr. Jennings' career please consult her curriculum vitae or email Dr. Jennings.

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