Hematology T32 symposium, 13 Oct 2026

The NIH-funded T32 grant is a federally funded support structure aimed at training medical researchers. Typically funded for five-year cycles, the department has had a variety of T32s over the years. After 8 renewals and now in its 48th year since 1979, the T32 grant funding Hematology Research has become the longest-running in the department and one of the longest in NIH history.

“We’re going to have to do something for the fiftieth,” Steven Lentz, MD, PhD, told an assembled audience earlier this week. As part of its mission of preparing the next generation of academic medical researchers, one of the expectations of the T32 program is that trainees will present their work to their peers and mentors in a public forum. To that end, the Hematology T32 hosted its first mini-symposium in a few years.

On the agenda were presentations from the current trainees, other junior faculty members working with them, and a small poster session after a late lunch. Organizers had also invited Jordan Shavit, MD, PhD, professor of pediatrics and human genetics at the University of Michigan, to deliver a keynote presentation.

Lentz, who co-directs the program with Anil Chauhan, MTech, PhD, gave a brief history at the outset of the program’s history and its leaders over the decades. Chauhan also took the podium to thank attendees for coming and the trainees and their mentors for their participation in the program. Research Assistant Professor Mariia Kumskova, MD, then introduced the first set of presenters for the morning.

Novel heparin-coated nanoparticles for in situ immunization of cancer – Greg Kirkpatrick, MD, PhD

Plasma Metabolomics: Software for Data Preprocessing and Pathway Analysis – Breanna Guppy, PhD

Clinical Characteristics and Outcomes of Extramedullary AML: A 20-Year Referral Center Experience – Kensuke Takaoka, MD, PhD

After a short break, Research Assistant Professor Manasa Nayak, PhD, introduced the next set of presenters.

Tissue Factor-Positive Extracellular Vesicles Drive a Prothrombotic State in Post-Acute Sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 Infection (PASC) – Gokul Patil, PhD

Targeting PKM2 Promotes Venous Thrombus Resolution in a Mouse IVC Stenosis Model – Ivan Budnik, MD, PhD

Megakaryocyte dysfunction as a potential contributor to platelet abnormalities in Ehlers-Danlos syndrome – Mariia Kumskova, MD

Age-Associated Venous Thrombosis: Does Calorie Restriction protect via Lowering Circulating cDNA? – Meena Kumari Palani Kumar, PhD

Shavit’s presentation, “Small fish, big clots: dissecting mechanisms of hemostasis and thrombosis using zebrafish,” presented an overview of a number of projects he and his team have conducted in the last few years. Inadvertently keeping with the mentoring theme of the day, his presentation also identified the graduate students, postdocs, and junior faculty who led each of the individual projects he discussed.

After a brief Q&A, the meeting adjourned from the Medical Education Research Facility and reconvened in the Seebohm Conference Room for lunch, some group photos, and a display of even more research.