Dr Fraser Macrae

Profile

I completed my undergraduate medical sciences degree (BSc hons) at the University of Leeds graduating in 2011. Following this, I began working in the lab of Professor Robert Ariëns in the school of medicine in Leeds as a research assistant exploring the roles of the fibrin clot in abdominal aortic aneurysm development and progression.

In 2012 I began a part-time PhD along side my research assistant position, focussing on the role of fibrin clots in cardiovascular disease and infection. In 2019 I was awarded a Sir Henry Wellcome Fellowship from the Wellcome trust to explore the role of fibrin films in infection and wound healing.

At the beginning of 2020 I was appointed as a University Academic Fellow where I am now establishing my own research group exploring how changes in blood clot formation can have big downstream effects on thrombosis development, and tissue repair.

Responsibilities

• LICAMM lead for Mid-career development

Research interests

Research Interests

My research focuses on understanding how changes in blood clot structure and function influence the development and progression of thrombosis. Much of my work to date has examined how alterations in coagulation, fibrin architecture and clot biomechanics contribute to thrombotic diseases such as myocardial infarction, stroke and venous thromboembolism. This includes defining how factors such as fibrin ultrastructure, fibre packing, fibrin‑cell interactions and clot surface properties shape thrombotic risk and clinical outcomes.

Building on this expertise, I am now expanding my research to investigate how these same coagulation‑driven mechanisms may also influence tissue repair. There is growing evidence that clot composition and clot‑derived structures can affect immune responses, microbial control and early wound‑healing processes. Several chronic diseases show both increased thrombosis risk and impaired healing, yet the underlying blood‑based connection between these two processes remains poorly understood.

My long‑term goal is therefore to bridge these fields — uncovering how clot structure and function link thrombosis with wound‑healing outcomes — to identify new therapeutic targets for conditions characterised by aberrant coagulation, clot pathology and non‑healing wounds.

Alongside this emerging direction, my group continues to study fundamental mechanisms of clot formation, fibrin structure, and thrombotic disease, and is developing new research in blood cryopreservation.

Research Projects:

• BHF project grant. Bypassing the intrinsic pathway: is plasma kallikrein activation of factor IX a shortcut to thrombosis?

British Heart Foundation Project Grant, 2026 – 2029 (Co-I)

• Intravascular fibrin films: mechanisms and roles in thrombosis development
  British Heart Foundation Project Grant, 2025–2028 (PI)
• Targeting the fibrinogen αC-region to reduce blood clotting and thromboembolism
  British Heart Foundation Programme Grant, 2024–2029 (Co‑Investigator)
• The hepatitis E virus polyprotein as a unique model of replication control
  MRC Research Grant, 2024–2027 (Co‑Lead)
• Fibrin films in haemostasis, infection control and wound healing
  Sir Henry Wellcome Postdoctoral Fellowship, 2019–2023 (PI)
• The role of fibrin films in thrombosis
  King Abdullah University International PhD Studentship, 2019–2023 (Co‑Investigator)

Research Group

PhD students

• Thomas Palmer‑Dench – 4‑year British Heart Foundation PhD student
• Scarlett Rowell – 4‑year Cheney PhD student

Postdoctoral Researcher

• Dr Lia Pinto – PDRA on BHF Project Grant

Primary investigator (PI)

• Intravascular fibrin films: elucidating mechanisms of formation and roles in thrombosis development

Qualifications

• BSc (Hons)
• PhD
• FHEA

Professional memberships

• International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis
• British Society for Haemostasis and Thrombosis
• Platelet Society
• Society of Low Temperature Biology

Student education

I am actively involved in teaching across the undergraduate and postgraduate medical and health sciences curriculum. In the MBChB programme, I primarily contribute to early‑years discovery research teaching and support students in developing core research skills.

I supervise a wide range of undergraduate and master’s research projects and supervise multiple postgraduate research students (PhD). I am a regular contributor to the BHF‑funded 4‑year PhD programme and teach on the MSc in Cardiovascular Health. In addition, I serve as an academic personal tutor to cohorts of medical students.

Research groups and institutes

• Leeds Institute of Cardiovascular and Metabolic Medicine
• Cardiometabolic
• Multidisciplinary Cardiovascular Research Centre