For Dr. Mary Underwood, the study of hemostasis is in her blood

For Dr. Mary Underwood, 10 years of postdoctoral work, first at Imperial College in her native London and then at the University of Michigan, was just the training she needed for her next journey.

“I wanted to progress to the next step in my career,” she said as she spoke of her decision to join the Michigan State University Department of Pharmacology & Toxicology to pursue her specialty of hemostasis (the formation of blood clots to prevent bleeding). “I liked Michigan, and I wanted to stay here.”

Dr. Underwood saw MSU as an opportunity to advance her work, which has focused on the proteins in the blood that help the blood clot and, in other cases, prevent clotting, abnormalities of which can lead to stroke and other issues.

“The levels of these proteins need to be maintained to keep the balance in the blood,” she said. “I’m interested in what are known as clearance receptors or proteins that can remove clotting proteins from the body’s system, thereby regulating their levels. They’re kind of like garbage disposals.”

She also studies the impact and causes of deep vein thrombosis, a condition where abnormal clotting leads to the formation of clots in the deep veins of the leg. Deep vein thrombosis can prove more serious if a clot breaks loose and travels towards the lungs or brain.

“I started working on this research at Michigan and saw there was this protein (stabilin-2, a clearance receptor), genetically linked to deep vein thrombosis development, and so I’m trying to characterize this protein and understand its role in disease development,” she said.

Stabilin-2 appears to regulate levels of von Willebrand factor, which, in normal amounts, helps the blood to clot. When stabilin-2 is deficient, von Willebrand factor levels rise, which may allow the blood to clot more easily.

Dr. Anne Dorrance, Chair of the department, said Dr. Underwood brings a distinctive aspect to the study of hemostasis.

“I am really excited to have Mary join the PhmTox team,” she said. “She will join several other researchers studying clotting and clotting disorders in the Department, yet with her focus on stabilin-2 she brings a unique perspective. In a world where team science rules, I am excited to see what this group can do.”

Dr. Underwood was drawn to the field as an undergraduate at London’s Imperial College, where her love of science led her to study biomedical research and eventually to hemostasis and blood-related disorders. Her first job was as a research technician in a hematology lab at University College in London, where she gained her Ph.D.

A conversation with her postdoctoral supervisor at Imperial College, who had connections at the University of Michigan, led her to continue her studies in the United States.

“I’d always wanted to come to the U.S. to work,” said Dr. Underwood, whose husband, Dr. Dan Hayden, is an Associate Professor in MSU’s Department of Physics and Astronomy as a particle physicist. “It’s a really good place because there’s great research that goes on here, and lots of people I can collaborate with.”

Now she plans to continue that research at MSU.

“I hope we can understand how the basic mechanisms for this disease (thrombosis) progress,” she said. “I hope my research leads to something therapeutic.”