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I oversee an established translational laboratory that uses murine models to test hypotheses regarding platelet function in human disease. My research helped delineate the role of platelets in immune function and, recently, defined a platelet marker as a prognostic factor for acute respiratory distress syndrome, providing contributions to the field of hemostasis.
RESEARCH:
Platelet-Immune Interface
Platelets in hemostasis and inflammation
Cancer therapy
Platelet role in preterm birth
Fellow of American Heart Association (FAHA)
Biological Sciences, Ph.D.
Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX
Biological Sciences, B.S.
Elizabeth City State University, Elizabeth City, NC
INVITED LECTURES
TLT-1 as a Biomarker for Cardiovascular Disease
CaReMeLo 2025, Warsaw, Poland 2025
The Road to Mechanisms is Not Always Straight
Genomica Genetics Conference, Krakow, Poland 2025
Albion College, Albion MI, 2025
Lake Superior State University, Sault Ste. Marie MI, 2025
Clot Nucleation in the Inflammatory Setting
Institute of Pharmacology, Krakow, Poland 2025
HTRS Scientific Symposium, Coronado CA, 2025
Platelets and Trem-Like Transcript - 1 in Acute Lung Injury
FASEB Science Research Conference, Lung Epithelium in Health and Disease, Southbridge MA, 2024
Platelets at the Forefront of Disease
Singapore Immunology Network, Singapore, 2024
Single Cell Sequencing of Human Platelets Reveals a Stochastic Nature of the Platelet Transcriptome.
Universidad Nacional de Cordoba, Cordoba, Argentina 2024
American Society of Hematology (ASH) 65th Annual Exposition. San Diego CA, 2023
The Enigmatic Nature of the Triggering Receptor Expressed in Myeloid Cells -1 (TLT- 1)
Eastern Michigan University, Ypsilanti MI, 2024
Ohio State University, Nationwide Children Hospital, Columbus OH, 2023
Defining a Role for Treml1 in Lung Maintenance and Development.
HTRS SEARCH Workshop on Hematology, Versiti Blood Center, Milwaukee WI, 2023
Novel Insights into Platelet Functionalization of Fibrinogen by The Triggering Receptor Expressed in Myeloid Cells (TREM) - Like transcript (TLT)-1.
Vascular Discovery, Boston MA, 2023
Massachusetts Institute of Technology Virtual, 2023
Case Western Reserve – Cleveland OH, 2023
University of Toledo – School of Health Sciences, Toledo OH, 2022
Gordon Research Conference, Hemostasis, Waterville Valley NH, 2022
Oakland University, Rochester MI, 2019
Temple University, Philadelphia PA, 2019
University of Würzberg, Würzberg, Germany, 2019
University of Birmingham, Birmingham, England, 2019
Reaching Out of the Fishbowl.
American Chemical Society Annual Meeting, Orlando FL, 2019
Sealing off the Wound.
Novo Nordisk – Copenhagen, Denmark, 2018
University of Puerto Rico Medical Sciences Campus, San Juan, PR 2018
Insights into the Platelet’s Role in Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome.
Jefferson University, Philadelphia PA, 2017
Immuno-hemostasis.
University of Vermont, Burlington VT, 2016
University of Puerto Rico Rio Piedras – San Juan, PR, 2012
TREM-Like Transcript-1 (TLT-1): A Mechanism of Inflammation and Coagulation.
University of Puerto Rico – Humacao Campus, 2016
Scientific Bumps in the Night” The Cross of apoe- and treml1-Null Mice: a Unique Link Between Cardiovascular Disease, Diabetes, and Obesity.
SE IDEA Conference, Biloxi MS, 2015
Closing the Paradox of TREM-Like Transcript.
Temple University, Philadelphia PA, 2014
Defining a Role for TREM-Like Transcript in the Atherosclerotic Niche.
Lilly Academy Technical Forum, San Juan, PR, 2013
Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University, Tallahassee FL 2013
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
Acsiniuc A, Manfredi B, Menédez-Pérez J, Branfield S, Washington AV. Interrogating a Compound Library in Search of an Inhibitor for TREM-like Transcript-1 to Fibrinogen Binding. J Pharmacol Exp Ther. 2024 Jul 19: JPET-AR-2024-002086. doi:10.1124/jpet.124.002086
Branfield S, Somani Y, Washington AV, Manfredi B. Whole Blood Aggregometry in Mice. Current Protocols. Volume: 4 Issue 7 (2024) https://doi.org/10.1002/cpz1.1095
Angelia D. Gibson, Zaida Bayrón-Marrero, Benjamin Nieves-Lopez3, Gerónimo Maldonado-Martínez, A. Valance Washington, High Levels of TLT-1+, but not Gp1b+, Microparticles Are Indicative of Poor Outcomes in Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome - Submitted Critical Care Med
Marieli Gonzalez, Juan Collado, Fiorella Reyes, Marya Reyes, Debra Marrero, Geronimo Maldonado, David Schneider, Robert Hunter. A. Valance Washington. TREM-Like Transcript 1 (TLT-1) increases platelet hyperactivity and accelerates atherosclerosis.Submitted - Circulation Research
Yancy Ferrer-Acosta, Karina M. Lugo-Cintrón, Jessica Morales, Jonathan N. Thon, Paola B. Fernández, Bismark Madera and A. Valance Washington. The activation of endothelial cells by sTLT-1. Submitted to PLOS one
Marieli Gonzalez-Cotto, Carlos J. Collado-Rivera, Elizabeth Castro-Rivera1, Javier J. Velez, Fiorella Reyes, Mayra Báez, Carlos M. Morán, Nildris Cruz, Jose Quidgley, Maria J. Crespo, Nataliya Chorna and A. Valance Washington. Triggering Receptor Expressed on Myeloid Cells-like 1 (TLT-1) protects against diet-dependent metabolic syndrome and liver steatosis Submitted.
Branfield S, Washington AV, Manfredi B. Affordable Method for Hematocrit Determination in Murine Models. Current Protocols. Volume: 4 Issue 4 (2024) ISSN: 2691-1299 https://doi.org/10.1002/cpz1.1018
Paola E. Peña-Garcia, Jessica Morales-Ortiz, Jean Marrero-Palanco, Ariana Virgillio, Barry A. Finette, Anthony V. Washington and Elizabeth A. Bonney Decreased level of TREM like Transcript 1 (TLT-1) is associated with prematurity and promotes the in-utero inflammatory response to maternal lipopolysaccharide (LPS) exposure. American Journal of Reproductive Immunology *Cover Image October 2023 DOI:10.1111/aji.13787
Bayrón-Marrero Z, Branfield S, Menéndez-Pérez J, Nieves-López B, Ospina L, Cantres-Rosario Y, Melendez LM, Hunter R, Gibson A, Maldonado-Martínez G, Washington AV. The Characterization and Evaluation of the Soluble Triggering Receptor Expressed on Myeloid Cells-like Transcript-1 in Stable Coronary Artery Disease. Int J Mol Sci. 2023 Sep 4;24(17):13632
Vilá LM, Nieves-Plaza M, Torres XV, Nieves B, Washington AV. Anti-Triggering Receptor Expressed on Myeloid Cells-Like Transcript-1 Antibodies in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus. Eur J Rheumatol. 2023 May 30. doi: 10.5152/eurjrheum.2023.22051
Gaur K, Pérez Otero SC, Benjamín-Rivera JA, Rodríguez I, Loza-Rosas SA, Vázquez Salgado AM, Akam EA, Hernández-Matias L, Sharma RK, Alicea N, Kowaleff M, Washington AV, Astashkin AV, Tomat E, Tinoco AD. Iron Chelator Transmetalative Approach to Inhibit Human Ribonucleotide Reductase. JACS Au. 2021 Jun 28;1(6):865-878.
Branfield S, Washington AV. The enigmatic nature of the triggering receptor expressed in myeloid cells -1 (TLT- 1). Platelets. 2021 Aug 18;32(6):753-760.
Branfield S, Washington AV. Control the platelets, control the disease: A novel cystic fibrosis hypothesis. J. Thromb Haemost. 2020 Jul;18(7):1531-1534.
Schmoker AM, Perez Pearson LM, Cruz C, Colon Flores LG, Branfeild S, Pagán Torres FD, Fonseca K, Cantres YM, Salgado Ramirez CA, Melendez LM, Ballif BA, Washington AV. Defining the TLT-1 interactome from resting and activated human platelets. J. Proteomics. 2020 Mar 20; 215:103638
Liz Hernandez-Matias, Pablo A. Llerandi Román, Lizmar Pérez-Donato, Natalia Calzada-Jorge, Stephanie Mendoza, Faviola Laureano-Torres, A. Valance Washington, Michelle Borrero. Spanish-language Version of the Science Identity Survey (SISE): Translation, Cultural Adaptation, and Evaluation. BIOSCENE 2019 Dec
Hernandez-Matias L, Pérez-Donato L, Román PL, Laureano-Torres F, Calzada-Jorge N, Mendoza S, Washington AV, Borrero M. An exploratory study comparing students' science identity perceptions derived from a hands-on research and non-research-based summer learning experience. Biochem Mol Biol Educ. 2019, Nov 14
Washington AV, Esponda O, and Gibson A. Platelet Biology of the Rapidly Failing Lung. Br J Haematol. 2019, Nov 7
Hernandez-Matias L, Maysonet-Cruz J , Calzada-Jorge N , Pérez-Donato L , Torres Rivera W , Ramírez- Rodríguez J , Laureano-Torres F , Méndez LB , Ríos O , Menéndez-Pérez J , Washington AV and Hunter- Mellado R. Essential Thrombocythemia Characterization: Mutational, Cytokine, and Thrombotic Profiling J Hematol Oncol Forecast. 2019; 2(1): 1010
Campbell RA, Schwertz H, Hottz ED, Rowley JW, Manne BK, Washington AV, Hunter-Mellado R, Tolley ND, Christensen M, Eustes AS, Montenont E, Bhatlekar S, Ventrone CH, Kirkpatrick BD, Pierce KK, Whitehead SS, Diehl SA, Bray PF, Zimmerman GA, Kosaka Y, Bozza PT, Bozza FA, Weyrich AS, Rondina MT. Human megakaryocytes possess intrinsic anti-viral immunity through regulated induction of IFITM3. Blood. 2019 Feb 5.
Ana C. Glembotsky, Dominika Sliwa, Dominique Bluteau, Nathalie Balayn, Cecilia P. Marin Oyarzún, Anna Raimbault, Marie Bordas, Nathalie Droin, Iryna Pirozhkova, Valance Washington, Nora P. Goette, Rosana F. Marta, Rémi Favier, Hana Raslova, and Paula G. Heller. Downregulation of TREM-like transcript (TLT)-1 and collagen receptor α2 subunit, two novel RUNX1-targets, contributes to platelet dysfunction in familial platelet disorder with predisposition to acute myelogenous leukemia. Haematologica 2018
Morales-Ortíz, Jessica., Deal, Victoria, Reyes, Fiorella., Maldonado-Martínez, Gerónimo., Ledesma, Nahomy., Staback, Franklin., Croft, Cheyanne. Pacheco, Amanda., Ortiz-Zuazaga, Humberto., Yost, C., Rowley, Jesse W., Madera, Bismark, St. John, Alex., Chen, Junmei, Lopez, Jose, Rondina, Matthew T., Hunter, Robert., Gibson, Angelia, and Washington, A. Valance. Platelet-derived TLT-1 is a Prognostic Indicator in ALI/ARDS and Prevents Tissue Damage in the Lungs in a Mouse model. Blood 2018 132:2495-2505
Morales-Ortíz, Jessica, Reyes, Fiorella, Santiago, Ocatavio., Rivera, Linnette, Ledesma, Nahomy, Manne, B. Kanth, Madera, Bismarck, Rondina, Matthew T., and Washington, A. Valance. TLT-1 controls early thrombus formation and stability by facilitating αIIbβ3 outside-in signaling in mice. IJAR 2018 10.21474/IJAR01/746
Ileana Vázquez-Otero, Yerania Rodríguez-Navedo, Karina Vilá-Rivera, Mariely Nieves-Plaza, Jessica Morales- Ortiz, A. Valance Washington, Luis M. Vilá. Association of Soluble TREM-like Transcript-1 with Clinical Features and Patient Reported Outcomes in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus. European Journal of Rheumatology 2018 Dec;5(4):244-248
Morales-Ortíz, Jessica, Rondina, Matthew T, Brown, Samuel M, Grissom, Colin and Washington, A. Valance. High Levels of Soluble TREM like transcript (TLT) – 1 Are Associated with Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS). Clinical and Applied Thrombosis/Hemostasis. 2018 Oct;24(7):1122-1127
Kucheryavykh LY, Kucheryavykh YV, Washington AV, Inyushin MY. Amyloid Beta Peptide Is Released during Thrombosis in the Skin. Int J Mol Sci. 2018 Jun 8;19(6)
Barbara Manfredi, Jessica Morales- Ortíz, Lymarie M. Díaz-Díaz, Liz Hernandez-Matias, Delmaliz Barreto- Vázquez, Javier Menéndez-Pérez, J. Alejandro Rodríguez-Cordero, Juan C. Villalobos-Santos, Edgardo Santiago- Rivera, 1Adriana Rivera-Dompenciel, Eunice L. Lozada-Delgado, Madhavi Kuchibhotla, Kelvin Carrasquillo- Carrión, Abiel Roche-Lima, and A. Valance Washington. Characterization of monoclonal antibodies to mouse TLT-1 suggests that TLT-1 plays a role in wound healing Monconal Antibodies in Immunodiagnosis and Immunotherapy 2018 Apr;37(2):78-86
Kucheryavykh LY, Dávila-Rodríguez J, Rivera-Aponte DE, Zueva LV, Washington AV, Sanabria P, Inyushin MY. Platelets are responsible for the accumulation of β-amyloid in blood clots inside and around blood vessels in mouse brain after thrombosis. Brain research bulletin. 2017
GRANTS AND FUNDING
2R01HL090933-06A1
Principal Investigator Total direct cost $ 1,000,000 07/2019 – 08/2024 (no cost extension)
NIH/NHLBI
Translational Studies on TREM-Like Transcript - 1
This is the competitive renewal that focuses on TLT-1 and fibrinogen deposition and therapeutic aspects of TLT-1 function in atherosclerosis and obesity.
R21 HL140268-01A1
Principal Investigator Total direct costs: $225,000 09/2018 - 06/2023
NIH/NHLBI
Clinical analysis of TREM-Like Transcript-1 in large cohorts of patients from the NHLBI Biorepository Evaluating if TREM-Like Transcript-1 (TLT-1) and soluble TLT-1 (sTLT-1) are related to disease severity in acute illnesses such as with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), sepsis, and with adverse events in cardiovascular disease.
AU Total direct cost $ 175,000.00 08/2020 – 07/2021
Principal Investigator
UPR-PR Government
Understanding the Thrombotic Nature of SARS-CoV-2 Infections.
In this grant we evaluated the role of coagulation in the development of COVID
1R01HL090933-01 Total direct costs: $1,000,000 06/2011 – 03/2016
Principal Investigator
NIH/NHLBI
Translational Studies on TREM-Like Transcript - 1
The goals of this study were to identify the mechanism of TLT-1 function and to clarify its role in mediating the interface between the hemostatic and inflammatory systems
5SC2 HL094342-03 Total direct costs: $225,000 09/2007 – 08/2010
Principal Investigator
NIH/NHLBI
Defining the Role of TREM-Like Transcript-1 in Platelet Aggregation
The goals of this study were to characterize the involvement of the platelet surface receptor known as TLT-1 in clot retraction, identify proteins that interact with the TLT-1 cytoplasmic domain, and elucidate the mechanisms of TLT-1 function in advancing cardiovascular disease.
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