Tel.: 514-340-8214
mark.blostein@mcgill.ca
Dr. Mark Blostein
 
Investigator, Lady Davis Institute
Attending Staff, Jewish General Hospital

 
Dr. Blostein obtained his MD from McGill University in 1989 and pursued postgraduate training in internal medicine at the Montreal General Hospital from 1989 to 1993. Between 1993 and 1999, he completed a clinical and research fellowship in Hematology in Boston at Tufts and Harvard University. In 1999, Dr. Blostein returned to Montreal to become a clinician-scientist and staff physician at the Jewish General Hospital.

Major Research Activities

Dr. Blostein’s laboratory is interested in investigating the cellular and molecular mechanisms of venous thrombosis. Venous thrombosis is a common condition affecting 1% to 2% of the population, with an annual incidence of 1 in 500. Morbidity from venous thrombosis has not substantially changed over the last 2 decades, and contemporary prophylaxis is not always effective. The major interest of Dr. Blostein is to investigate new potential therapeutic targets and, in particular, a member of the vitamin K-dependent family of proteins, Gas6. Using in vitro experiments with cells in culture and in vivo models of thrombosis with Gas6 deficient mice, Dr. Blostein recently demonstrated that Gas6 promotes thrombosis by inducing the expression of tissue factor in endothelial cells. Dr. Blostein is pursuing this work by studying the role of Gas6 and monocytes in venous thrombosis.

Recent Publications

Aghourian MN, Lemarié CA, Bertin FR and Blostein MD. Prostaglandin E synthase is upregulated by Gas6 during cancer-induced venous thrombosis. Blood, 127:769-777,2016.

Bertin FR, Lemarié CA, Robins RS, Blostein MD. Gas6 regulates thrombin-induced expression of VCAM-1 through FoxO-1 in endothelial cells. J ThrombHaemost. 13:2260-72,2015.

Laurance S. Aghourian MN, Jiva Lila Z, Lemarié CA, Blostein MD. Gas6-induced tissue factor expression in endothelial cells is mediated through caveolin-1-enriched microdomains. J ThrombHaemost. 12(3):395-408,2014.

Robins RS, Lemarié CA, Aghourian MN, Jianqiu Wu J, Blostein MD. Vascular gas6 contributes to thrombogenesis and promotes tissue factor upregulation following vessel injury in mice. Blood, 121:692-699, 2013.
Snapshot
A clinician-scientist who runs a basic science laboratory with five personnel, including two students and one post-doc.

Director of the Anticoagulation Clinic and Director of the Coagulation Laboratories at the Jewish General Hospital.

Integral member of the Thrombosis Research Group, where he runs several clinical trials.
 
Active clinical practice where he sees patients, primarily those with bleeding and thrombotic problems.

Director of the Clinical Investigator Program at McGill University.

Deputy Chair of the Thrombosis and Lipids Committee at the Heart & Stroke Foundation of Canada.
 
 
Important Links
 
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