A groundbreaking University of Texas Medical Branch study that revealed how blood clots form under pressure has earned national recognition. The research, led by Yunfeng Chen, PhD, assistant professor in the Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, has been awarded the 2025 Horizon Award, which includes a $15,000 prize honoring an outstanding publication of the past year.
Chen’s team developed an innovative lab-on-a-chip device that replicates a narrowed artery, allowing scientists to watch clot formation unfold in real time. This system provides a detailed profile of how platelets activate, how clotting proteins assemble, and how clots stabilize under fast-flow conditions.
“These findings open the door to a more precise way of understanding and treating dangerous clotting conditions,” said Chen. “Instead of relying only on standard blood tests, we can begin to look at the unique clotting profile of each patient, which could one day guide more personalized therapy.”
The study, published in Nature Communications, found that people with high blood pressure and older adults show heightened, risk-associated clotting patterns. Importantly, the work identified a force-triggered switch on platelets: two surface proteins working together under stress as a potential explanation for why some patients remain at risk even when standard blood-thinner tests appear normal.
These findings highlight the need for personalized approaches to anti-clotting therapy, moving beyond one-size-fits-all treatment strategies and toward patient-specific care guided by biological profiles.
Read the paper at Nature Communications.
Learn more about the Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology.