
Berger Lab Members
Members of the Berger Lab at NYU Langone investigate the contribution of platelet activity to different cardiovascular disease phenotypes, rheumatological diseases, HIV, and other inflammatory disease processes.
Principal Investigator

Jeffrey S. Berger, MD
Associate Professor, Department of Medicine, Divisions of Cardiology and Hematology
Associate Professor, Department of Surgery, Division of Vascular Surgery
Director of Cardiovascular Thrombosis, NYU Grossman School of Medicine
jeffrey.berger@nyulangone.org
Dr. Berger studies processes relevant to atherosclerosis, thrombosis, platelet biology, and different phenotypes of cardiovascular diseases. During his training, he received a master’s degree in clinical research from the NIH K30 program at Albert Einstein College of Medicine. He completed fellowships in cardiology at Duke University, cardiovascular research training at Duke Clinical Research Institute, and vascular medicine and thrombosis and hemostasis at the University of Pennsylvania.
During the early part of his career, Dr. Berger was fortunate to receive the American Heart Association (AHA) Fellow to Faculty award during his fellowship at Duke University where he investigated platelet activity and cardiovascular disease in women and men. This research led to several seminal observations about how women and men differ in their pathophysiology and outcomes of disease. Dr Berger then received grants from the Doris Duke Foundation and an AHA Clinical Research Program investigating different measurements of platelet activity and the effect of low-dose aspirin. He is currently conducting a study funded by the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute to study platelet activity in patients with peripheral vascular disease. The goal of the study is to identify a clinically useful assessment of platelet activity for risk stratification that may be used as a diagnostic tool and a target for therapeutic intervention. The mechanism of increased platelet activity in patients with PAD is being explored using platelet transcriptomics. Dr. Berger is also the principal investigator of the basic component of a study investigating the role of platelets in women with heart attacks. In addition, Dr Berger has ongoing grants studying platelets in subjects with stable cardiovascular disease, HIV, rheumatoid arthritis, and systemic lupus erythematosus. Overall, Dr Berger has an active laboratory aimed at better understanding the role of platelet activity in vascular biology. His active collaborations across disciplines are evaluating the role of platelets as effector cells in the setting of inflammation and different phenotypes of cardiovascular disease.
Honors and Awards
Wolf Family Scholar (2016); Charles Klein Scholar (2015); NYU Research Incentive Award (2014-2015); Gerald Weissman Young Scholars Society (2014); Leon H. Charney Lecture Award (2014); Irma T. Hirschl/Monique Weill-Caulier Trusts Research Award (2013); Grunebaum AIDS Scholarship Award (2012); Saul J. Farber Medical Scholar (2012); Michael Saperstein Medical Scholar (2011); Women with Heart Research Award, American Heart Association (2011); Doris Duke Charitable Foundation Research Award (2011); Samuel A Levine Young Clinical Investigator Award Finalist, American Heart Association (2009); Jay D. Coffman Young Investigator Award, Society of Vascular Medicine (2009); University of Pennsylvania Health System Cardiovascular Medicine Division Outstanding Fellow Research Award (2008-9); Snyderman Award, Duke Clinical Research Institute (2008); Third Annual Platelet Colloquium Young Investigator Award (2008); American Heart Association Fellow to Faculty Award (2007); Leadership Council for Improving Cardiovascular Care Future Leaders grant award recipient (2007); Elizabeth Barrett-Connor Finalist Research Award for Young Investigators in Training (2005); Chief Medical Resident, Beth Israel Med Cntr (2004-5); Clinical Research Scholar, Albert Einstein College of Medicine (2005)
Faculty

Tessa J. Barrett, PhD
Assistant Professor, Departments of Medicine and Pathology
tessa.barrett@nyulangone.org

Michael S. Garshick, MD
Assistant Professor, Departments of Medicine and Dermatology
michael.garshick@nyulangone.org

Sean P. Heffron, MD
Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine
sean.heffron@nyulangone.org
Postdoctoral Fellows

Adedoyin Akinlonu, PhD

Vitor De Moura Virginio, PhD

Marcin Sowa, PhD

Haoyu Sun, PhD
Technicians

Lauren Kennedy

Sarah Liberow

Siobhan McGirl
Research Staff

Kamelia Drenkova
Research Associate
kamelia.drenkova@nyulangone.org

Maja Fadzan
Research Coordinator
maja.fadzan@nyulangone.org

Elliot Luttrell-Williams
Associate Research Scientist
elliot.luttrell-williams@nyulangone.org
Volunteer Researchers
Tricia Wang
Morris Franco