Dr Alex Bye

18 million people die from cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) every year, accounting for approximately one-third of all global deaths. This includes deaths from heart attacks (myocardial infarction) and stroke, which involve blood clots forming within blood vessels that block blood flow to the heart of brain. Small cells in the blood called platelets play a central role in forming these clots. One of the best ways to prevent heart attacks and strokes is to reduce the ability of platelets to form clots using antiplatelet medications. These drugs are effective for many, but a minority of patients will suffer a cardiovascular event while on antiplatelet therapy. Another limitation of antiplatelet drugs is increased risk of haemorrhage, including catastrophic forms of bleeding such as intracranial haemorrhage (haemorrhagic stroke). In my research, I work with patients that are at risk of these negative outcomes to better understand why and work towards better treatments.

My interests include:

• Drug-induced platelet dysfunction
• Biomarkers of platelet hyper-reactivity
• Platelet signalling
• Spatiotemporal signalling in megakaryocytes
• Kinase inhibitors as antiplatelet drugs
• von Willebrand Factor in thrombosis and haemostasis