Randal Westrick

Randal J. Westrick
Associate Professor, Ph.D.
305 DH
(248) 370-3577
Lab location: 301, 304 & 307 DH
Lab phone (248) 370-4243
[email protected] 

Courses:

BIO 4400 Advanced Genetics
BIO 7010 Biological and Biomedical Scientific Communication

Research: Genetics of cardiovascular disease
Dr. Westrick is an internationally recognized researcher in the genetics of thrombosis, hemostasis, and cardiovascular disease whose work has been cited over 4,000 times. He is a Fellow of the American Heart Association (FAHA) and arrived at Oakland University in 2013 with funding from an American Heart Association Scientist Development grant. He is presently funded by grants from the American Heart Association, National Science Foundation, and the National Institutes of Health. These grants directly fund his research laboratory activities, as well as providing funds for supporting graduate, postdoctoral, and undergraduate training.

Dr. Westrick’s laboratory uses a genome wide mutagenesis approach in mice with a genetically lethal blood clotting disorder to identify and characterize an expanding set of genetic variants that restore survival to these mice. These anti-blood clotting variants are in both coding and noncoding regions of the genome and alter biological activities such as cytoskeletal regulation, lipid biology, and extrinsic blood coagulation. These genomic variants provide innovative therapeutic targets for reducing the risk of blood clots. In addition, his lab has identified genetic loci controlling the expression of platelet plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (pPAI-1). The identification of the genetic regulators of cardiovascular genes such as PAI-1 and how they control cell-type specific expression of these important cardiovascular molecules is the major goal of this research. 

Current Research Support:

• American Heart Association Strategically Focused Research Network: AHA SFRN Center on Inflammation in Cardiac and Neurovascular Disease.
• National Institutes of Health NIH R15: Investigating the functional roles of Arl6ip5 in suppressing thrombosis.
• National Science Foundation: NRT-HDR: Incorporating data analytics, leadership, and management skills into STEM graduate education: a new training paradigm for success within and outside academia.
• National Institutes of Health: U2C/TL1-Institutional Network Award for Promoting Kidney, Urologic, and Hematologic Research (UM-KUHR) Training.
• American Heart Association: OU Summer Undergraduate Research Program (SURP).
• American Heart Association: OU Summer Undergraduate Research Experience Program (SURE).

Google Scholar              

Randal Westrick NCBI My Bibliography

Selected Publications:
Siebert, A.E., M.A. Brake*, S.C. Verbeek*, A.J. Johnston*, A.P. Morgan, C. Cleuren, A.M. Jurek*, C.D. Schneider*, D.M. Germain*, et al. (2023) Identification of genomic loci regulating platelet plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 in mice. Journal of Thrombosis and Haemostasis. 21(10): 2917-2928. DOI: 10.1016/j.jtha.2023.06.018.

Shaya, S.A., R.J. Westrick and P.L. Gross. (2019). Thrombus stability explains the factor V Leiden paradox: a mouse model. Blood advances, 3(21), 3375–3378. DOI: /10.1182/bloodadvances.2019031112.

Brake*, M.A., L. Ivanciu, S.A. Maroney, N.D. Martinez, A.E. Mast and R.J. Westrick. (2019). Assessing blood clotting and coagulation factors in mice. Current Protocols in Mouse Biology 9: e61. DOI: 10.1002/cpmo.61.

Tomberg, K., R.J. Westrick, E.N. Kotnik, A.C. Cleuren, D.R. Siemieniak, G. Zhu, T.L. Saunders and D. Ginsburg. (2018). Whole exome sequencing of ENU-induced thrombosis modifier mutations in the mouse. PLoS genetics, 14(9): e1007658. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1007658.

Westrick, R.J., K. Tomberg, A.E. Siebert*, G. Zhu, M.E. Winn, S.L. Dobies, S.L. Manning, M.A. Brake*, A.C. Cleuren, L.M. Hobbs*, L.M. Mishack*, A.J. Johnston*, E. Kotnik, D.R. Siemieniak, J. Xu, J.Z. Li, T.L. Saunders and D. Ginsburg. (2017). Sensitized mutagenesis screen in Factor V Leiden mice identifies thrombosis suppressor loci. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 114(36): 9659–9664. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1705762114.

van Vlijmen, B.J.M. and R.J. Westrick. (2016). Backseat drivers: passenger mutations take control of experimental phenotypes. Journal of Thrombosis and Haemostasis Thromb Haemost 14(8): 1615-7. DOI: 10.1111/jth.13373.

Tomberg, K., Khoriaty, R., Westrick, R.J., Fairfield, H.E., Reinholdt, L.G., Brodsky, G.L., Davizon-Castillo, P., Ginsburg, D., and J. Di Paola. (2016). Spontaneous 8bp Deletion in Nbeal2 Recapitulates the Gray Platelet Syndrome in Mice. PloS one 11(3): e0150852. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0150852.

*OU student