Professor Michael Laffan Consultant haematologist

Background

Professor Michael Laffan trained in medicine at Oxford University and in haematology at the Hammersmith and Royal Free hospitals in London.  He returned to the Royal Postgraduate Medical School, then based at Hammersmith Hospital, as a consultant in 1992. He has been director of the Hammersmith Hospital Haemophilia Centre since that time. He has published extensively on blood coagulation and recently edited the 12th edition of Practical Haematology. Professor Laffan is chair of the British Society of Haematology Task Force on Haemostasis and Thrombosis and Chair of the UK Bleeding Disorders study group. He recently completed six years as secretary of the United Kingdom Haemophilia Centre Doctors’ Organisation (UKHCDO). He is a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and a fellow of the Royal College of Pathologists.

Expertise

Hereditary and acquired bleeding disorders, thrombosis, anticoagulation, antiplatelet therapy

Research & publications

Professor Laffan’s research interest is centred on von Willebrand disease and the function of the von Willebrand factor molecule. He also has interests in mechanisms of thrombin generation and the effects of coagulation on blood vessel function. He is a principal investigator in several clinical trials including gene therapy. 

Selected recent publications:

McKinnon T A J, Goode E C, Birdsey G, Chan, A C K, Nowak A A, Lane D A & Laffan M A (2010)  Specific N-linked glycosylation sites modulate synthesis and secretion of Von Willebrand Factor. Blood 116, 640-8

Starke R D, Ferraro F, Paschalaki K E, Dryden N H, McKinnon T A J, Sutton R E, Payne E M, Haskard D O, Hughes A D, Cutler D F, Laffan M A & Randi A M (2010) Endothelial von Willebrand factor regulates angiogenesis. Blood 117,  1071 – 80

Nowak A A, Canis K, Riddell A, Laffan M A & McKinnon T A J (2012) O-linked glycosylation of Von Willebrand Factor modulates the interaction with platelet receptor Glycoprotein Ib under static and shear stress conditions. Blood 120, 214-222

McKinnon T A J, Nowak A A, Cutler J, Riddell A F, Laffan M A, Millar C M (2012) Characterisation of von Willebrand factor A1 domain mutants I1416N and I1416T: correlation of clinical phenotype with flow-based platelet adhesion Journal of Thrombosis and Haemostasis 10 1409-16

Canis K, McKinnon T, Nowak A, Haslam SM, Panico M, Morris HR, Laffan MA, Dell A (2012) Mapping the N-glycome of Human Von Willebrand Factor. Biochem J  447, 217–28 

Starke R D, Paschalaki K E, Dyer C E F, Harrison- Lavoie K J, Cutler J A, Mckinnon T A J, Millar C M, Cutler D F, Laffan M A, and Randi A M (2013) Cellular and molecular basis of von Willebrand disease: studies on blood outgrowth endothelial cells. Blood 121, 2773-84

Nowak AA, Mckinnon T A J, Hughes J M, Chion A C K, Laffan M A (2013) The O linked glycans of human von Willebrand factor modulate its interaction with ADAMTS13. J Thromb Haemost 12,  54-61

Shapiro S, Nowak A, Wooding C, Birdsey G, Laffan M, McKinnon T (2014) The Von Willebrand Factor predicted unpaired cysteines are essential for secretion. J Thromb Haemost. 12, 246-54

Solecka B A, Weise C, Laffan M A and Kannicht C (2016) Site-specific analysis of von Willebrand factor O-glycosylation. J Thromb Haemost 14, 733-46

Stritt S, Nurden P, Favier R, Favier M, Ferioli S, Gotru S K, van Eeuwijk J M, Schulze H, Nurden A T, Lambert M P, Turro E, Burger-Stritt B, Matsushita M, Mittermeier L, Ballerini P, Zierler S, Laffan M A, Chubanov V, Gudermann T, Nieswandt B, Braun A (2016)  Defects in TRPM7 channel function deregulate thrombopoiesis through altered cellular Mg(2+) homeostasis and cytoskeletal architecture. Nat Commun 7, 11097. 

Chion A, O'Sullivan J M, Drakeford C, Bergsson G, Dalton N, Aguila S, Ward S, Fallon P G, Brophy T M, Preston R J, Brady L, Sheils O, Laffan M,  McKinnon T A, O'Donnell J S (2016)  N-linked glycans within the A2 domain of von Willebrand factor modulate microphage-mediated clearance. Blood 128, 1959-68. 

Turro E, Greene D, Wijgaerts A, Thys C, Lentaigne C, Bariana T K, et al. (2016) A dominant gain-of-function mutation in universal tyrosine kinase SRC causes thrombocytopenia, myelofibrosis, bleeding, and bone pathologies. Sci Transl Med 8, 328ra30.

Gill D, Del Greco M F, Walker AP, Srai S K S, Laffan M A, Minelli C (2017) The Effect of Iron Status on Risk of Coronary Artery Disease: A Mendelian Randomization Study-Brief Report. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol 37,  1788-92.

Nowak A A, O'Brien H E R, Henne P, Doerr A, Vanhoorelbeke K, Laffan M A, et al. (2017) ADAMTS-13 glycans and conformation-dependent activity. J Thromb Haemost 15 (2017) 1155-66

Rangarajan S, Walsh L, Lester W, Perry D, Madan B, Laffan M, Yu H, Vetterman C, Pierce G, Wong W and Pasi J (2017) AAV5 –Factor VIII gene transfer in severe Hemophilia A.  N Engl J Med 377 (2017) 2519-2530

Gill D, Del Greco M F, Walker AP, Srai S K S, Laffan M A, Minelli C (2018) The Effect of Iron Status on Risk of Coronary Artery Disease: A Mendelian Randomization Study. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol. in press

The use of viscoelastic haemostatic assays in the management of major bleeding A British Society for Haematology Guideline Curry N S, Davenport R, Pavord S, Mallett S V,  Kitchen D, Klein A A, Maybury H, Collins P W, Laffan M. Brit J Haem. in press

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