Dr. Hajjar is presently the Brine Family Professor and Chairman of the Department of Cell and Developmental Biology. She directs a rapidly expanding department dedicated to fundamental questions in biology that relate to human health and disease. These include the functions of cancer causing genes, establishment of cell polarity, regulation of molecular motors, control of gene expression, and development of major organs including heart and blood vessels, skeleton, muscle, lung, brain, and blood cells. In addition, the department is committed to educating medical students, graduate students, post-doctoral fellows, and other scientists through didactic teaching, in-lab mentoring, and organization of seminars, research conferences, and an annual retreat. The department also hosts an integrated program in angiogenesis research that capitalizes on the broad vascular biology expertise in place throughout the medical center.
Dr. Hajjar graduated from Smith College in 1974, and from The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in 1978. She completed a residency in Pediatrics at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh (1978-1981) where she also served as Chief Pediatric Resident (1981-1982). She undertook a Fellowship in Pediatric Hematology-Oncology at The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine (1982-1984), including a year of cell biology research training with Professor Vann Bennett. In 1984, she joined the faculty of the Departments of Pediatrics and Medicine, and obtained further training under Professor Ralph Nachman, then Chief of the Division of Hematology-Oncology in the Department of Medicine. She was named the Stavros Niarchos Professor of Pediatrics in 1997, and, in 2002, accepted the chairmanship of the Department of Cell and Developmental Biology. Dr. Hajjar is credited with the discovery of the cell surface receptor for tissue plasminogen activator (annexin A2), and with demonstrating its importance in vascular homeostasis and angiogenesis. She is a member of the American Society of Hematology, the American Society of Clinical Investigation, the Association of American Physicians, and the American Society of Cell Biology.
