Leadership

Directors

Matthew D. Neal

Dr. Neal is an Associate Professor in the Department of Surgery, Division of Trauma, and General Surgery since July 2015. His areas of interest and expertise include: trauma-induced coagulopathy and hemostasis following trauma and hemorrhagic shock; measurement of coagulopathy in trauma and sepsis; clinical outcomes in trauma/hemorrhagic shock; clinical outcomes in massive transfusion; Immunomodulation and transfusion of red blood cells; acute care surgery outcomes research and surgical rescue; and outcomes research focusing on emergency general surgery, elective abdominal wall reconstruction, and surgical rescueFaculty. His research interest is to understand the mechanisms of Hemostasis, Inflammation, and Thrombosis following Trauma and hemorrhagic shock with a translational focus in these areas as well as Transfusion medicine and Surgical outcomes (HIT3S Lab). Dr. Neal is a co-lead investigator for the University of Pittsburgh effort in the NIH/DOD funded Trans-Agency Consortium for the study of Trauma-Induced Coagulopathy (TACTIC) along with Dr. Brian Zuckerbraun. Read More

Philip C. Spinella

Dr. Spinella is a Professor in the Department of Surgery, and Critical Care Medicine. In addition to his position as Co-Director of the Trauma and Transfusion Medicine Research Center, he is the Associate Medical Director of the Center for Military Medicine Research at the University of Pittsburgh. Dr. Spinella earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Biology (1991) at Tufts University, and his Medical Degree (1995) at New York Medical College. Following residency in Pediatrics at Tripler Army Medical Center in Honolulu, he completed a fellowship in Pediatric Critical Care at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (2003). After fellowship he served as the Assistant Chief of Pediatric Critical Care at Wilford Hall Medical Center in San Antonio (2003-2007). Dr. Spinella served 15 years in the US Army and separated as a Lieutenant Colonel in 2007. Dr. Spinella is a well-established clinical trialist in the field of transfusion medicine and hemorrhagic shock. Dr. Spinella’s laboratory examines the biologic effects of blood product manufacturing methods with the goal of improving the quality of blood products. He has been funded by the US Department of Defense and the National Institutes of Health with approximately 50 million dollars over the past 10 years. He has published over 245 manuscripts, 21 chapters, and is the editor for a textbook on the topic of damage control resuscitation. He has completed several randomized controlled trials examining the effect of RBC storage age in children, and the effect of tranexamic acid on immune function and outcomes in adult trauma patients with severe injury. At present he is leading a multicenter RCT to investigate the effect of platelet storage temperature on bleeding and clinical outcomes in patients requiring cardiac surgery. Read More

Associate Directors

Susan M. Shea

Dr. Shea, Assistant Professor of Surgery and Bioengineering, utilizes microfluidic models and other flow-based assays to study hemostasis in the context of trauma and transfusion medicine. Severe bleeding is the most common cause of preventable death after traumatic injury, and trauma-associated coagulopathy increases the risk for mortality by 400%. Dr. Shea’s research examines how traumatic injury induces coagulopathy and platelet dysfunction. To do so, Dr. Shea develops physiologically-fidelic microfluidic assays and platforms to simulate biomechanics and fluid dynamics of vessel injury in vitro. These same tools are also employed to study the hemostatic efficacy of novel and existing blood products, as well as other treatments and approaches to rescue hemostatic dysfunction, with the ultimate goal of improving patient outcomes. Dr. Shea is also interested in arterial thrombosis and thrombolysis. Arterial thrombosis causes myocardial infarction and ischemic stroke, which are two of the leading causes of death in the United States. Dr. Shea also employs microfluidics to study novel approaches to prevent and treat thrombosis. Read More

Christine M. Leeper

Christine Leeper, MD, MS, is a trauma and general surgeon and intensivist certified by the American Board of Surgery. She is an assistant professor of surgery and critical care medicine at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. She received her medical degree from University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and completed her residency and fellowship at UPMC. Dr. Leeper’s clinical interests include trauma-induced coagulopathy and optimal transfusion practice in adult and pediatric trauma. Read More

Jason L. Sperry

Dr. Sperry is a Professor with a primary appointment in the Department of Surgery, Division of Trauma and General Surgery and secondary appointments in the Department of Critical Care Medicine and the Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI) at the University of Pittsburgh. He is the principal investigator (PI) for the Linking Investigations Trauma and Emergency Services (LITES) network funded by the U.S. Department of Defense and PI of the PAMPer trial and STAAMP trials funded by the Prehospital Use of Plasma in Traumatic Hemorrhage (PUPTH) program and the Tranexamic Acid Clinical Research (TACR) program, under the direction of the Department of the Army. He is a co-investigator for the Trans-Agency Research Consortium for Trauma-Induced Coagulopathy (TACTIC) funded through NHLBI, as well as multiple other NIH-funded grants. His overarching goal is to improve outcomes following traumatic injury. Read More

Data Core Director

Joshua B. Brown

Dr. Brown is the PI of the Prehospital Resource Organization and Delivery of Care in Trauma Systems (PRODCTS) Lab. He is interested in the role of air medical transport for injured patients, as well as the geospatial organization of trauma systems. The lab also studies prehospital resuscitation strategies and field triage of the injured patient. Dr. Brown obtained a Master of Science in Clinical Research, developing expertise in large database management and advanced techniques for analysis of observational data. Read More

Clinical Trial Manager

Jane Luce

Jane Luce is the Clinical Trials Project Manager at the Trauma and Transfusion Medicine Research Center. She has twenty years of work experience in clinical research with increasing responsible roles. She has provided oversight of many multicenter clinical research projects and executing and monitoring clinical trials. She has advanced project management skills with experience in FDA regulated trials and NIH funded trials. In addition, she has obtained a Master of Public Health with a concentration area in Behavioral and Community Health Sciences from the University of Pittsburgh.

Department Chair

Timothy R. Billiar

Dr. Billiar is the Chair of the Department of Surgery and the George V. Foster Professor of Surgery at the University of Pittsburgh. Dr. Billiar has served as President of the Society of University Surgeons, the Surgical Infection Society, and the International Nitric Oxide Society, and has been continually funded by the National Institutes of Health since 1989. His research interests have been in the area of sepsis, shock, and the role of innate immune pathways in the setting of surgery and trauma. He has published over 700 papers, reviews, and chapters, and currently holds seven patents and is widely recognized for his contributions to the study of Nitric Oxide as an endogenous signaling molecule. In 2006, Dr. Billiar was inducted into the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences and was later awarded the title of Distinguished Professor at the University of Pittsburgh. He received both the Fiance-Karl Award as well as the Medallion for Scientific Achievement from the American Surgical Association for his contributions to surgical science. The Shock Society awarded Dr. Billiar its Annual Scientific Achievement Award in 2015. He is an editor of Schwartz Principles of Surgery, the leading international textbook of surgery. In addition to serving as department chair, Dr. Billiar is also the Vice President and Chief Academic Officer of University of Pittsburgh Physicians and Associate Medical Director for UPMC International Services Division. Read More