Dr Paul Harrison BSc, PhD, FRCPath

Image of Paul Harrison

Institute of Inflammation and Ageing
Senior Lecturer

Contact details

Telephone
+44(0)121 371 3251
Email
p.harrison.1@bham.ac.uk
Address
Institute of Inflammation and Ageing
College of Medical and Dental Sciences
University of Birmingham
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B15 2TT
UK

Paul Harrison is the Healing Foundation Senior Lecturer within the Institute of Inflammation and Ageing at the University of Birmingham in the UK. He is a Past- President of the British Society of Haemostasis & Thrombosis (BSHT) and a Past-chairman of the International Society of Thrombosis and Haemostasis (ISTH) Platelet Physiology Scientific and standardization committee. He has published over 130 papers and book chapters/reviews in his field. In 2010 Paul was featured as one of the top 100 healthcare scientists in the UK by the Department of Health.

Qualifications

  • Fellow of the Royal College of Pathologists (FRCPath)
  • Registered Clinical Scientist
  • PhD
  • BSc Biochemistry (Toxicology)

Biography

Paul Harrison has over 30 years of experience in research laboratories. His first degree was in Biochemistry from the University of Surrey in 1981 and he specialised in Toxicology. After working as a Clinical Biochemist for 2 years he started his research career in Haemostasis and Thrombosis at St. Thomas’s Hospital Medical School in the Coagulation Research Department and obtained his PhD in 1988 from the University of London. After 10 years at St.Thomas’s he then became a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Oklahoma before returning to the Haemostasis Research group at University College London in 1995. In 2001 he became a clinical scientist at the Oxford Haemophilia and Thrombosis Centre. In 2013 he was appointed as the Healing foundation senior lecturer at the University of Birmingham. Paul has published over 130 papers and book chapters and is a past President of the British Society of Haemostasis and Thrombosis.

Teaching

  • MBChB
    • Personal Mentor for Medical Students
    • Tutor for Infection, Immunology & Haematology (Year 2)
    • Lecturer for SP1 - Clinical Aspects of Immunology, Haematology & Immunity
  • MPharm
    • Lecturer and Tutor
  • BMedSc
    • Lecturer - Vascular Biology and Pathology (Year 1)
    • Lecturer - Immunity and Infection (Year 2)
    • Lecturer - Immunity & inflammatory Disease (Year 3)
    • Lecturer - Integrative Physiology and Pharmacology (Year 3)

Postgraduate supervision

Paul is currently supervising doctoral research students in the following areas:

  • Neutrophil Extracellular TRAPs post burn injury (student Robert Dinsdale from October 2013-2017)
  • Genotyping and Phenotyping of Platelets (GAPP) (student Rashid Al Ghaithi from September 2014-2017)

If you are interested in studying any of these subject areas please contact Paul on the contact details above, or for any general doctoral research enquiries, please email: dr@contacts.bham.ac.uk or call +44 (0)121 414 5005.

For a full list of available Doctoral Research opportunities, please visit our Doctoral Research programme listings.

Research

Paul Harrison is researching into the influence of burn and traumatic injury on the systemic inflammatory response with a particular focus on haemostatic and thrombotic parameters. He is also a member of the Birmingham platelet group and the Genotyping and Phenotyping of Platelets Study (GAPP). Paul is also a collaborator on the PATH-2 (Platelet Rich Plasma in Achilles Tendon Healing) trial - A pragmatic multi-centre, blinded, randomised placebo-controlled trial comparing Platelet Rich Plasma injection (PRP) to placebo (imitation) injection in 214 adults with Achilles tendon rupture. See http://www.path2study.org/. Two sub-studies are embedded within the main study to contribute to the understanding of the PRP mechanism in tendon healing. His main interests are platelet biology, Neutrophil Extracellular TRAPs, Platelets in regenerative medicine, flow cytometry, platelet counting, thrombopoeisis, platelet kinetics, platelet function testing and microvesicles.

Other activities

  • Past-President of the British Society for Haemostasis and Thrombosis
  • Past-Chairman of the Platelet Physiology Scientific and Standardization committee of the International Society of Thrombosis and Haemostasis
  • Co-editor in chief of Platelets (2015-2020) (Impact factor 3.213)
    http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/iplt20
  • Member of the editorial boards for the Journal of Thrombosis and Haemostasis, the International Journal for Laboratory Haematology and an associate editor for the Journal of Extracellular Vesicles
  • Winner of 2009 Sysmex Outstanding Science Award, Istanbul, May 2009
  • Featured in the publication “Extraordinary You” – as one of top 100 healthcare scientists within the UK by the Department of Health, 2009/2010
    http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_117580

Publications

Johnson B, Lowe GC, Futterer J, Lordkipanidze M, MacDonald D, Simpson MA, Sanchez Guiu I, Drake S, Bem D, Leo V, Fletcher SJ, Dawood B1, Rivera J, Allsup D, Biss T, Bolton-Maggs PH, Collins P, Curry N, Grimley C, James B, Makris M, Motwani J, Pavord S, Talks K, Thachil J, Wilde J, Williams M, Harrison P, Gissen P, Mundell S, Mumford A, Daly ME, Watson SP, Morgan NV; UK Genotyping and Phenotyping of Platelets Study Group (2016) Whole exome sequencing identifies genetic variants in inherited thrombocytopenia with secondary qualitative function defects. Haematologica [Epub ahead of print]

Hampson P, Dinsdale R, Wearn CJ, Hazeldine J, Moiemen N, Lord J and Harrison P (2016) Neutrophil dysfunction, immature granulocytes and cell-free DNA are early biomarkers of sepsis in burn injured patients: A prospective observational cohort study. Ann Surg [Epub ahead of print]

Othman M, Kaur H, Favaloro EJ, Lillicrap D, Di Paola J, Harrison P and Gresele P; Subcommittees on von Willebrand Disease and Platelet Physiology (2016) Platelet type von Willebrand disease and registry report: communication from the SSC of the ISTH. J Thromb Haemost 14(2):411-4

Bethel MA, Harrison P, Sourij H, Sun Y, Tucker L, Kennedy I, White S, Hill L, Oulhaj A, Coleman RL and Holman RR (2016) Randomised controlled trial comparing impact on platelet reactivity of twice-daily with once-daily aspirin in people with type 2 diabetes. Diabet Med 33(2):224-30

Ed Rainger G, Chimen M, Harrison MJ, Yates CM, Harrison P, Watson SP, Lordkipanidzé M and Nash GB (2015) The role of platelets in the recruitment of leukocytes during vascular disease. Platelets 26(6):507-20

Park MS, Xue A, Spears GM, Halling TM, Ferrara MJ, Kuntz MM, Dhillon SK, Jenkins DH, Harmsen WS, Ballman KV, Harrison P and Heit JA (2015) Thrombin generation and procoagulant microparticle profiles after acute trauma: A prospective cohort study. J Trauma Acute Care Surg 79(5):726-31

Gardiner C, Harrison P, Belting M, Böing A, Campello E, Carter B, Collier M, Coumans F, Ettelaie C, van Es N, Hochberg F, Mackman N, Rennert RC, Thaler J, Rak J and Nieuwland R (2015) Extracellular vesicles, tissue factor, cancer and thrombosis-discussion themes of the ISEV 2014 Educational Day. J Extracell Vesicles 4:26901

Mumford AD, Frelinger AL 3rd, Gachet C, Gresele P, Noris P, Harrison P and Mezzano D (2015) A review of platelet secretion assays for the diagnosis of inherited platelet secretion disorders. Thromb Haemost 114(1):14-25

McCabe DJ, Murphy SJ, Starke R, Harrison P, Brown MM, Sidhu PS, Mackie IJ, Scully M and Machin SJ (2015) Relationship between ADAMTS13 activity, von Willebrand factor antigen levels and platelet function in the early and late phases after TIA or ischaemic stroke. J Neurol Sci 348(1-2):35-40

Gresele P; Subcommittee on Platelet Physiology of the International Society on Thrombosis and Hemostatis (2015) Diagnosis of inherited platelet function disorders: guidance from the SSC of the ISTH. J Thromb Haemost 13(2):314-22

Gitz E, Pollitt AY, Gitz-Francois JJ, Alshehri O, Mori J, Montague S, Nash GB, Douglas MR, Gardiner EE, Andrews RK, Buckley CD, Harrison P and Watson SP (2014) CLEC-2 expression is maintained on activated platelets and on platelet microparticles. Blood 124(14):2262-70

Curry N, Raja A, Beavis J, Stanworth S and Harrison P (2014) Levels of procoagulant microvesicles are elevated after traumatic injury and platelet microvesicles are negatively correlated with mortality. J Extracell Vesicles 3:25625

Ayers L, Harrison P, Kohler M and Ferry B (2014) Procoagulant and platelet-derived microvesicle absolute counts determined by flow cytometry correlates with a measurement of their functional capacity. J Extracell Vesicles 3

Gresele P, Harrison P, Bury L, Falcinelli E, Gachet C, Hayward CP, Kenny D, Mezzano D, Mumford AD, Nugent D, Nurden AT, Orsini S and Cattaneo M (2014) Diagnosis of suspected inherited platelet function disorders: results of a worldwide survey. J Thromb Haemost 12(9):1562-9

Hadley G, Harrison P, Adlam D and Choudhury RP (2014) Short bowel syndrome and clopidogrel non-responsiveness: a new indication for platelet aggregometry? BMJ Case Rep pii: bcr2013202241

van der Pol E, Coumans FA, Grootemaat AE, Gardiner C, Sargent IL, Harrison P, Sturk A, van Leeuwen TG and Nieuwland R (2014) Particle size distribution of exosomes and microvesicles by transmission electron microscopy, flow cytometry, nanoparticle tracking analysis, and resistive pulse sensing. J Thromb Haemost 12(7):1182-92

Estcourt LJ, Stanworth SJ, Harrison P, Powter G, McClure M, Murphy MF and Mumford AD (2014) Prospective observational cohort study of the association between thromboelastometry, coagulation and platelet parameters and bleeding in patients with haematological malignancies‐The ATHENA study. Br J Haematol 166(4):581-91

Masters A and Harrison P (2014) Platelet counting on the Accuri C6 flow cytometer. Platelets 25(3):175-80