Shaun Robert Coughlin

Dr. Shaun Robert Coughlin is a Distinguished Professor of Medicine and Professor of Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology at the University of California, San Francisco, where he is also Director of the Cardiovascular Research Institute. Coughlin is an expert in the field of vascular biology and has led the burgeoning field of thrombogenesis, which studies of the formation of blood clots. Coughlin is widely recognized for his landmark discoveries at the cellular level detailing the function of thrombin, a protease enzyme that causes blood to clot. Coughlin identified and characterized a family of protease-activated receptors (PARs), thereby revealing the mechanism by which proteases can act as a hormone and regulate cellular processes. PARs link tissue injury to cellular responses that regulate blood clotting, inflammation, pain sensation, and perhaps cytoprotection and repair, with important implications for the development of novel treatments for atherosclerosis, heart attacks, blood clots, and strokes. Coughlin’s discoveries have led to a greater understanding of how platelets and clot formation are regulated, and how signals that control inflammation of blood vessels are transmitted. Current work in the Coughlin lab uses mouse and zebrafish models to focus on better defining the roles and interactions of coagulation factors, PARs, and other regulators of hemostasis and thrombosis. Coughlin has received numerous accolades for his work including the American Heart Association Established Investigator Award, the Syntex Prize in Receptor Pharmacology, the Hoeg Award, the Pasarow Foundation Award, the American Heart Association Basic Science Prize, and the Bristol-Meyers Squibb Award. In addition to his American Academy of Arts and Sciences membership, he is a member of the National Academy of Medicine and the National Academy of Sciences . Coughlin's numerous publications appear in prominent journals including Cell and Nature.