GALVESTON, Texas (Aug. 25, 2025) — When blood has to squeeze through a narrowed artery, dangerous clots can form fast. A UTMB-led study captured that split second on a lab-on-a-chip and showed why high blood pressure and aging can make the problem worse. The work earned Yunfeng Chen, PhD, assistant professor in UTMB’s Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, the 2025 Horizon Award from the department—$15,000 in recognition of an outstanding article published in the past year.
Chen’s team built a lab-on-a-chip test that mimics a tight spot in an artery and watches clots take shape in real time. The device records a multi-parameter profile of clot behavior—how platelets switch on, how key proteins join in, and how the clot grows and stabilizes under fast-flow conditions. The study found that people with high blood pressure and older adults tend to show more intense, risk-linked clot patterns.
The paper also points to a force-triggered switch on platelets—two surface proteins working together under stress—as one reason some patients remain at risk even when standard blood-thinner tests look fine. The results strengthen the case for more personalized choices of anti-clotting medicines guided by a patient’s profile rather than one-size-fits-all testing.
Links
- Nature Communications article (open access): “Multi-parametric thrombus profiling microfluidics detects intensified biomechanical thrombogenesis associated with hypertension and aging” — DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-53069-9
- UTMB Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology (BMB): https://bmb.utmb.edu/