Meenakshi Banerjee

Meenakshi Banerjee, PhD

Languages spoken: English

Academic Information

Departments Primary - Internal Medicine

Divisions: Hematology & Hematologic Malignancies

Dr. Meenakshi Banerjee is a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Internal Medicine and an Investigator in the Molecular Medicine Program at the University of Utah. Her research centers on a fundamental and clinically important question: how do blood platelets and their bone marrow progenitors, megakaryocytes, function not merely as clotting cells, but as active drivers of inflammation, thrombosis, and organ dysfunction?

Dr. Banerjee's laboratory takes a multi-omics approach to uncover novel regulators of platelet and megakaryocyte biology in the context of cardiometabolic and renal disease. Ongoing investigations focus on how thrombo-inflammatory platelet programs contribute to vascular dysfunction in diabetes, obesity, acute kidney injury (AKI), chronic kidney disease (CKD), and the emerging syndrome at their intersection: Cardiovascular Kidney Metabolic Syndrome (CKMS).

The lab's overarching mission is to translate mechanistic discoveries into actionable clinical insights — identifying new therapeutic targets and biomarkers for diseases where inflammation, thrombosis, and organ dysfunction converge. By reframing platelets as active immune effectors rather than passive bystanders, Dr. Banerjee's lab aims to deepen the understanding of how thrombosis and inflammation intersect in cardiometabolic and renal diseases, and to identify more precise targets for intervention.

Education History

Fellowship University of Kentucky College of Medicine
 Postdoctoral Fellow
Doctoral Training University of Kentucky College of Medicine
 PhD
Graduate Training University of Kentucky
Graduate Training University of Calcutta
 MSc
Undergraduate Lady Brabourne College, University of Calcutta
 BSc (Hons)

Selected Publications

Journal Article

  1. Sim MMS, Mollica MY, Alfar HR, Hollifield M, Chung DW, Fu X, Gandhapudi S, Coenen DM, Prakhya KS, Mahmood DFD, Banerjee M, Peng C, Li X, Thornton AC, Porterfield JZ, Sturgill JL, Sievert GA, Barton-Baxter M, Zheng Z, Campbell KS, Woodward JG, Lpez JA, Whiteheart SW, Garvy BA, Wood JP (2024). Unfolded von Willebrand factor binds protein S and reduces anticoagulant activity. Blood Vessel Thromb Hemost, 2(1).
  2. Banerjee M, Rowley JW, Stubben CJ, Tolley ND, Freson K, Nelson B, Nagy B Jr, Fejes Z, Blair AM, Turro E, Gresele P, Taranta GC, Bury L, Falcinelli E, Lordkipanidz M, Alessi MC, Johnson AD, Bakchoul T, Ramstrom S, Frontini M, Camera M, Brambilla M, Campbell RA, Rondina MT (2024). Prospective, international, multisite comparison of platelet isolation techniques for genome-wide transcriptomics: communication from the SSC of the ISTH. J Thromb Haemost, 22(10), 2922-2934.
  3. Campbell RA, Manne BK, Banerjee M, Middleton EA, Ajanel A, Schwertz H, Denorme F, Stubben C, Montenont E, Saperstein S, Page L, Tolley ND, Lim DL, Brown SM, Grissom CK, Sborov DW, Krishnan A, Rondina MT (2022). IFITM3 regulates fibrinogen endocytosis and platelet reactivity in nonviral sepsis. J Clin Invest, 132(23).
  4. Sim MMS, Banerjee M, Myint T, Garvy BA, Whiteheart SW, Wood JP (2021). Total Plasma Protein S Is a Prothrombotic Marker in People Living With HIV. J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr, 90(4), 463-471.
  5. Hubbard WB, Banerjee M, Vekaria H, Prakhya KS, Joshi S, Wang QJ, Saatman KE, Whiteheart SW, Sullivan PG (2021). Differential Leukocyte and Platelet Profiles in Distinct Models of Traumatic Brain Injury. Cells, 10(3).
  6. Banerjee M, Huang Y, Joshi S, Popa GJ, Mendenhall MD, Wang QJ, Garvy BA, Myint T, Whiteheart SW (2020). Platelets Endocytose Viral Particles and Are Activated via TLR (Toll-Like Receptor) Signaling. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol, 40(7), 1635-1650.
  7. Banerjee M, Huang Y, Ouseph MM, Joshi S, Pokrovskaya I, Storrie B, Zhang J, Whiteheart SW, Wang QJ (2019). Autophagy in Platelets. Methods Mol Biol, 1880, 511-528.
  8. Joshi S, Banerjee M, Zhang J, Kesaraju A, Pokrovskaya ID, Storrie B, Whiteheart SW (2018). Alterations in platelet secretion differentially affect thrombosis and hemostasis. Blood Adv, 2(17), 2187-2198.
  9. Banerjee M, Joshi S, Zhang J, Moncman CL, Yadav S, Bouchard BA, Storrie B, Whiteheart SW (2017). Cellubrevin/vesicle-associated membrane protein-3-mediated endocytosis and trafficking regulate platelet functions. Blood, 130(26), 2872-2883.
  10. Banerjee M, Whiteheart SW (2017). The ins and outs of endocytic trafficking in platelet functions. Curr Opin Hematol, 24(5), 467-474.
  11. Banerjee M, Whiteheart SW (2016). How Does Protein Disulfide Isomerase Get Into a Thrombus? Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol, 36(6), 1056-7.
  12. Ouseph MM, Huang Y, Banerjee M, Joshi S, MacDonald L, Zhong Y, Liu H, Li X, Xiang B, Zhang G, Komatsu M, Yue Z, Li Z, Storrie B, Whiteheart SW, Wang QJ (2015). Autophagy is induced upon platelet activation and is essential for hemostasis and thrombosis. Blood, 126(10), 1224-33.
  13. Nair-Gupta P, Baccarini A, Tung N, Seyffer F, Florey O, Huang Y, Banerjee M, Overholtzer M, Roche PA, Tamp R, Brown BD, Amsen D, Whiteheart SW, Blander JM (2013). TLR signals induce phagosomal MHC-I delivery from the endosomal recycling compartment to allow cross-presentation. Cell, 158(3), 506-21.
  14. Karim ZA, Zhang J, Banerjee M, Chicka MC, Al Hawas R, Hamilton TR, Roche PA, Whiteheart SW (2013). IκB kinase phosphorylation of SNAP-23 controls platelet secretion. Blood, 121(22), 4567-74.

Review

  1. Leardini-Tristo M, Banerjee M (2025). Beyond Thrombopoiesis: The Immune Functions of Megakaryocytes in Bacterial Infections and Sepsis. [Review]. Int J Mol Sci, 26(22).

Editorial

  1. Banerjee M, Rondina MT (2025). Of mice, men, and megakaryocytes: CK1α governs thrombopoiesis. Blood, 146(16), 1879-1880.