Jonathan F. Tait, MD, PhD

Clinical and Research Background

Dr. Tait’s research focuses primarily on two areas: the annexin family of calcium-dependent phospholipid binding proteins, and clinical molecular-genetic testing. In the first area, the long-range goal is to understand the mechanism of annexin-membrane binding, and to develop better means to diagnose and treat disorders related to thrombosis and apoptosis. The interaction of annexin V with phospholipids, platelets, leukocytes, and erythrocytes has been characterized quantitatively. These results show that annexin V is an excellent probe for detection and functional inhibition of cellular procoagulant phospholipid (primarily phosphatidylserine). The structural requirements for membrane binding have been defined, and annexin V has been developed as a means to image apoptotic cells in vivo in clinical areas such as organ transplant rejection and cancer chemotherapy. In the second area, novel molecular-genetic clinical assays have been developed for the diagnosis and management of genetic and neoplastic diseases, and their analytical and clinical performance has been evaluated in the clinical laboratory setting.