David Ginsburg, one of the nation’s leading scholars in the molecular genetics of bleeding and clotting disorders, will reveal new insights into the pathogenesis of heart and blood diseases when he delivers the 2026 Henry Russel Lecture.
His lecture, “Genetics of Blood Clotting: From Bedside to Bench and Back Again,” will take place from 4-5:30 p.m. April 7 in the Great Lakes Room at Palmer Commons. The event is open to the public and will be livestreamed.
The Henry Russel Lectureship is the university’s highest honor for senior faculty members and is awarded annually for exceptional achievements in research, scholarship or creative endeavors, as well as for an outstanding record of distinguished teaching, mentoring and service to U-M and the wider community. This year marks the 101st Henry Russel Lecture at U-M.
Four other faculty members also will receive Henry Russel Awards, the university’s highest honor for early or mid-career faculty members. They are:
- Solomon Adera, assistant professor of mechanical engineering, College of Engineering.
- Kevin Geoffrey Field, associate professor of nuclear engineering and radiological sciences, College of Engineering.
- Teresa Rodgers O’Meara, assistant professor of microbiology and immunology, Medical School.
- Paige Sweet, assistant professor of sociology, LSA.
In his lecture, Ginsburg will review research conducted by his eponymous lab, focusing on the connection between studies of human diseases (the bedside) and basic laboratory research (the bench).
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The Ginsburg lab has a longstanding interest in the genetics of inherited bleeding and blood clotting disorders and the structure and function of blood coagulation proteins, including von Willebrand factor (von Willebrand disease, ADAMTS13 (Thrombotic Thrombocytopenic Purpura (TTP)), and PAI-1 (PAI-1 deficiency).
It was the lab’s discovery of the molecular basis for the combined deficiency of blood clotting factors V and VIII that inspired the “bedside” to the “bench” approach. Further exploration into the regulation of protein transport from the endoplasmic reticulum to the Golgi led to new insights into the pathogenesis of heart and blood diseases, including the control of cholesterol levels.
At U-M, Ginsburg is the James V. Neel Distinguished University Professor of Internal Medicine and Human Genetics, Warner-Lambert/Parke-Davis Professor of Medicine, professor of human genetics and of pediatrics in the Medical School, and research professor in the Life Sciences Institute.
His high research caliber has led him to receive some of the highest honors in his field. He has been elected by his peers to four national learned societies: the National Academy of Sciences (2007), the National Academy of Medicine (1999), the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2005), and the American Philosophical Society (2020).
Ginsburg was recognized in 1988 with the Jerome W. Conn Award for Distinguished Research by a Junior Faculty Member. In 1999, the Medical School bestowed on him the Distinguished Faculty Lectureship Award in Biomedical Research, and in the same year, he received the Distinguished Faculty Achievement Award. He was a Taubman Senior Scholar from 2011-17, and in 2014, he was inducted into the Medical School’s League of Research Excellence.
Ginsburg also continued to see hematology, oncology and genetics patients for more than 30 years and volunteered as an attending physician for the Homeless Shelter Medical Clinic in Ann Arbor for more than 10 years.
Ginsburg earned his B.A. in 1974 at Yale University, followed by his M.D. in 1977 from Duke University. He held residencies and internships at Presbyterian Hospital in San Francisco and Peter Ben Brigham Hospital in Boston. He also held fellowships at the Harvard Medical Area Training Program in Hematology and Medical Oncology in Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, as well as a research fellowship at Harvard Medical School and Children’s Hospital.
Ginsburg joined the U-M faculty in 1985 as an assistant professor of internal medicine and investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. In 1993, he was appointed professor of internal medicine, professor of human genetics, and professor of pediatrics, and was named Warner-Lambert/Parke Davis Professor of Medicine in 1994.
In 2002, he was appointed as a charter member of the Life Sciences Institute, and in 2003, he was named the James V. Neel Distinguished University Professor of Internal Medicine and Human Genetics.
