Kirk Hansen, PhD

We are focused on developing strategies for the detection and characterization of extracellular proteins in health and disease. Our goal is to understand underlying mechanisms of tissue microenvironments, including innate immunity, in disease processes using mass spectrometry.

One of our main focuses is improving characterization of tissue extracellular matrices (ECM). We have been refining traditional biochemical extraction and digestion methods to improve proteomic coverage of insoluble and crosslinked proteins of the ECM. These methods are being used to obtain a more detailed view of tissue remodeling in wound healing, aging, cancer and fibrotic diseases in general. New methods to identify protein crosslinks are allowing for the study of enzymatic specificity of the crosslinking enzymes at a resolution previously not available. 

Similar methods are being developed to characterize fibrin clot structures with the goal of identifying mediators of thrombosis and coagulopathies. This work is being supported by rapid ion mobility mass spectrometry for quantitative plasma proteome characterization. These approaches, in addition to metabolomic methods (D'Alessandro Lab), will be the foundation of a personalized medicine platform that has the potential to revolutionize clinical diagnostics.