My laboratory is focused on the study of vascular biology: specifically, the intercellular signaling that occurs between circulating cells and their environment. Much of our work has involved studies of the adhesive protein thrombospondin and its cellular receptor, CD36. We have recently found that CD36 function on the platelet surface is regulated by the state of phosphorylation of an ectodomain. Current work is directed towards understanding the pathways that lead to constitutive expression of a phosphorylated receptor and to define the responsible kinase(s) and phosphatase(s). The mechanisms that regulate cell surface expression are being pursued in studies of the CD36 promoter region.

A related area of interest in our laboratory is the regulation of hematopoietic cell trafficking mediated by bone marrow microvascular endothelial cells. The latter are literally the interface between vascular biology and hematopoiesis. Our laboratory is involved in expression cloning humoral as well as cell-surface molecules that regulate hematopoiesis and cell trafficking between the hematopoietic compartment and the circulation