Directory of Experts
Details for Professor Ingeborg Hers
| Personal details | |||
| Name | Professor Ingeborg Hers | ||
| Job title | Professor of Pharmacology and Cell Signalling |
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| Department | School of Physiology, Pharmacology & Neuroscience University of Bristol |
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| Contact details | This expert can be contacted via the University of Bristol Public Relations
Office. To help us deal with your request, please mention the Directory of Experts when contacting the Public Relations Office. work+44 (0)117 331 8092 email: public-relations@bristol.ac.uk |
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| Qualifications | M.Sc.(Amst.), Ph.D.(Utrecht) | ||
| Professional details | |||
| Keywords | platelet activation platelet aggregation platelet hyperactivity |
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| Areas of expertise | I am interested in elucidating the signalling pathways that are involved in platelet activation, in particular those that may play a role in platelet hyperactivity in conditions such as obesity and diabetes. Platelets are able to respond to a wide range of agonists and when activated at the site of injury they rapidly aggregate to form a platelet haemostatic plug. Increased or inappropriate platelet activation, however, will lead to thrombosis and vascular complications. Risk factors such as obesity and some genetic factors lead to a resistance to insulin, the major underlying cause of type II, adult-onset diabetes, the most common type of diabetes. Type II diabetes is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular complications, which is the main cause of morbidity and mortality in these patients. There is substantial evidence for platelet hyperactivity in patients with diabetes, which is thought to play a contributory role in diabetic heart disease. |
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