Newly endowed thrombosis chair announced in honour of McMaster professors

The late McMaster University professor and thrombosis specialist Clive Kearon has been honoured with a new research chair bearing his name.

The new Jack Hirsh-Clive Kearon Chair in Thrombosis was officially announced on May 23 at the Department of Medicine Annual Awards with a $2 million endowment. Its inaugural chair holder is Patricia Liaw, a professor of the Department of Medicine and holder of the previous Jack Hirsh Professorship in Thrombosis.

Funding for the professorship, established by McMaster and Hamilton Health Sciences through the Thrombosis and Atherosclerosis Research Institute (TaARI) four years ago, has been boosted to a $2 million endowed research chair through additional funds from Clive Kearon’s widow Gillian, his friends and colleagues worldwide, TaARI, the Department of Medicine, and the Faculty of Health Sciences.

An endowed chair guarantees the chairholder a minimum of $80,000 a year in perpetuity to invest in their research.

The original professorship was named for Jack Hirsh, professor emeritus of medicine who is world-renowned as a clinician and scientist specializing in anticoagulant therapy and thrombosis. A member of the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame, Hirsh was the mentor of Clive Kearon who died in 2020.

“Clive was extremely careful, thorough, hardworking and a great colleague with a witty sense of humour,” said Hirsh.

“His research made a huge impact on the way people with venous thrombosis and pulmonary embolism were diagnosed and treated.”

Kearon first joined Hirsh’s thrombosis group at McMaster in the 1980s, soon after moving to Hamilton from his native Ireland.

Kearon had just finished a research fellowship under McMaster researcher Norman L. Jones, one of the foremost clinical respiratory physiologists of his generation.

“Although Clive had no experience in thrombosis, one of its consequences is pulmonary embolism, and I thought that having someone with respiratory experience would enhance our program,” said Hirsh.

“His biggest contribution was evaluating the role and importance of anti-coagulant therapies in people with venous thrombosis.”

Liaw, who will hold the newly endowed chair until at least 2025, said her research will continue to focus on how the immune system can trigger blood clot formation in a process termed “immunothrombosis”. She said this research was especially urgent during the COVID-19 pandemic, as potentially lethal blood clots are a common complication of severe infections.

Together with her long-standing clinical colleague Dr. Alison Fox-Robichaud, Liaw’s research has identified a new therapeutic approach to target immunothrombosis in patients with severe infections, now in a phase-one clinical study funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. Liaw is grateful for the ongoing support from TaARI under the leadership of Jeffrey Weitz, a world-renowned expert on the pathophysiology and treatment of thrombosis.

Liaw said Kearon inspired her to bridge the gap between basic science and clinical research, adding that they collaborated on translational studies on the biochemical and genetic basis of thrombosis.

Liaw and Kearon co-authored four research papers and were co-applicants on a Heart and Stroke Foundation grant. She said Kearon focused his clinical trials on the effective diagnosis of venous blood clots, as well as the duration and intensity of anti-clotting treatments.

By collecting blood samples from patients enrolled in clinical trials, Kearon left future researchers a unique opportunity to investigate the biological pathways that contribute to blood clotting disorders.

“It is a great honour to hold this chair that recognizes Dr. Hirsh and Dr. Kearon as two of McMaster University’s most influential researchers who have revolutionized the diagnosis and management of blood clotting disorders,” said Liaw, a professor of the Department of Medicine and a member of TaARI.

“Dr. Kearon was always very generous in our collaborations and encouraged me to take a leadership role in designing and executing the research projects. As a person, Dr. Kearon always had a positive outlook on life and taught all of us the importance of compassion and human kindness.”